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South Africa’s £2.4B Investment In 2010 World Cup Shows No Returns

South Africa’s £2.4B Investment In 2010 World Cup Shows No Returns

From The Guardian

It is now more than four years since South Africa hosted a very successful Fifa World Cup, defying all the sceptics who raised alarms before the event about crime and the readiness of the country’s infrastructure to cope with such a major international event. It was a proud moment for the country.

Now that South Africans have had the chance to digest the implications of their government spending over £2.4bn on six new world-class stadiums and upgrades to roads and airports, has the outlay been worth it ? Has the game of football grown as it was meant to by hosting the World Cup?

Judging by the poor attendances at top-flight games not involving the country’s two most popular clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, who are also by far the most powerful in financial terms, and the poor performances of the national team Bafana Bafana the answer unfortunately has to be a resounding “no”.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has acknowledged being concerned about poor attendances ranging between 500 and 5,000 spectators for league matches not involving Chiefs and Pirates, who usually attract crowds of more than 50,000 every time they meet. Their massive support also means they attract the biggest sponsorships, at a time when the pre-World Cup sponsorship boom is declining.

The sparse attendances stem from the lack of excitement in the local game – last season Kaizer Chiefs striker Bernard Parker finished as the league’s top scorer with a measly 10 goals, and that after not scoring in the last three months of the season and also missing several games through injury- and the pervasive television coverage of football by the country’s satellite TV service, SuperSport, who offer not only comprehensive coverage of local football, but also screen every single game in England’s Premier League as well as providing extensive coverage of Spain’s La Liga, the German Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1.

Read more at The Guardian