News
2010 more than just a game – Govt
21 August - The 2010 Fifa World Cup to be hosted in South Africa should be used as a vehicle to send new images to the world about the people of South Africa and the African continent alike, media delegates in Beijing have heard.
World Cup to boost SA tourism
21 August - South African tourism and leisure sectors are set to benefit from the country’s hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, Deputy Minister of Finance Jabulani Moleketi said on Thursday.
SA police promise safe World Cup
19 August - South African National Deputy Police Commissioner Andre Pruis says the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup™ and the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ to be held in South Africa will be safe.
Media to scrutinise 2010 preparations
15 August - A contingent of international and local media representatives has been invited to put preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ under the microscope in Beijing, the Department of Sport and Recreation said in a statement on Friday.
2010 lessons from Olympic volunteers
15 August - Potential volunteers for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup™ and 2010 Fifa World Cup™ to be hosted in South Africa will have to be on top of their game to ensure that crucial areas of operations are well-manned during the events.
SA must unite to make 2010 a success - govt
13 August - With less than 666 days left before the biggest soccer event on the African continent kicks off, government has called on South Africans to come together and share the vision of making it a memorable success.
Fifa: Nothing can go wrong in 2010
12 August - Fifa boss Sepp Blatter has once again reiterated his confidence in South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ saying the event will change the face of the tournament.
Beijing comes alive with Olympic spirit
12 August - Giant outdoor screens brandishing the Olympic circles, sports memorabilia, Chinese flags, strict traffic flow protocol, heavy police presence, branded commodities, scores of tourists, giant official mascots, late night food markets, and game.
LOC gets ball rolling at Host Cities
06 August - The 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa™ Organizing Committee has announced the appointment of eight Organising Committee Venue Managers in a move aimed at dispersing its operations to host city level.
2010 boss for Soccerex
05 August - Soccerex have announced that Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa™ Organizing Committee will be participating at the 2008 Soccerex Conference programme.
Volunteer applications hit 20 000
04 August - More than 20 000 South Africans have applied to volunteer during the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup™ tournament, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Volunteer Programme said on Friday.
2010 security exercises in Bloemfontein
04 August - South African law enforcement agencies will hold joint security exercises in Bloemfontein in preparation for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™, South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement on Sunday.
02 June 2008
LOC chief rounds off China, Australia tours
Danny Jordaan, the Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ Local Organising Committee, on Friday completed his visits to Beijing and Sydney.
Danny Jordaan first visited Beijing in China - with the city on the threshold of hosting the 2008 Olympics - and then headed for the Fifa Congress in Sydney, just as Australia started revving up its bid to host the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
For the LOC, looking at the progress in Beijing just prior to the city staging the Olympics was particularly informative, with Beijing's spectacular facilities and good organisation leaving a huge impression.
"From a state of readiness point of view many things really impressed us in Beijing. New buildings springing up, new hotels, a massive new airport and significant improvements in transport infrastructure were particularly impressive. It was clear that the Beijing Olympics will be underpinned by slick organisation and will be a memorable event. They've promised a spectacular opening ceremony and wonderful new stadia and I have no doubt that will be the case," said Jordaan.
As the world's most populous nation, China is a significant global player and despite not qualifying for the 2006 Fifa World Cup, China still contributed the most television viewers out of the 26.3 billion accumulated television audience for the Germany 2006 Fifa World Cup.
So, for the 2010 LOC it was very important to update China and key figures in Asian football firsthand about the progress being made in South Africa to prepare for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
To this end, Jordaan gave a presentation to the International Football Arena conference in Beijing, a gathering of some of the world's top football administrators, which included the president of the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA executive member, Mohammed Bin-Hammam, as well as the head of England's Premier League Richard Scudamore.
“We gave the Asian president, Mr Bin-Hammam, and the people of Beijing an update on the state of readiness in South Africa. They were all very impressed and again expressed the support of Asia, and China in particular, for the World Cup in South Africa. China and South Africa are similar in that like us, China sees sport as a major vehicle in the transforming of Chinese society and they recognise the power of sport to contribute to the economy,” said Jordaan.
Further engagements with China's massive media industry also gave the opportunity for the OC to get further information about South Africa's 2010 preparations to China's massive population, with OC members also set to gain first-hand major event experience during Beijing 2008.
The attention of the entire football world has been on Sydney this week as the city hosted Fifa's 58th Congress, which finished on Friday. And having bid unsuccessfully for the 2006 Fifa World Cup and then successfully for the 2010 tournament, South Africa knows all too well the journey Australia intends to undertake in its efforts to stage its first Fifa World Cup.
"South Africa and Australia have a lot in common. Like us, they have pursued a major event strategy since the early 1990s. Both of us have delivered the Cricket and Rugby World Cups and Australia has also delivered the Olympics in 2000 and is now pursuing the 2018 Fifa World Cup," said Jordaan.
"While in Sydney we had a number of exchanges with the New South Wales government, local print and broadcast media, Australian companies who were investing in South Africa, as well as with leading Australian businesses who were involved with the organisation of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and then went on to work on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Asian Games in Doha and the Commonwealth Games," Jordaan added.
South Africa's intention is to use the 2010 Fifa World Cup as an opportunity to showcase the country as a viable global tourism and investment destination.
And in Sydney, it was clear eight years on that the Sydney 2000 Olympics contributed significantly to not only the country's infrastructure development, but also in promoting the city as a major global tourist destination.
"Since hosting the Sydney Olympics, Sydney has become clearly the number one tourist destination in Australia and entrenched itself as a major world tourist destination. Hosting the Olympics also led to the opening up of global opportunities for Australian companies, in areas such as construction, security, eventing and a number of other areas. Those are the same spin-offs we are confident our hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup will create for South African companies," said Jordaan.
For now though, sports-mad Australia is keen on cementing football's growth in the country by bidding to stage the World Cup in 2018. "Australia is quite keen to benefit from the experience of South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup and is also very keen to support South Africa in its efforts to deliver Africa's first Fifa World Cup," said Jordaan.
Source: Fifa.com