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Work to be done Africa needs to get World Cup act together
Two fatal tragedies in the space of three weeks has inevitably raised question marks over the wisdom of awarding the 2010 World Cup Finals to Africa in soccer circles. In Johannesburg, 43 people died during a crush at the match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Then, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 10 people died during a stampede at a match in the city of Lubumbashi. In both cases, the initial blame for the tragedies was placed on the authorities. In South Africa, the allegations centered on the over-selling of tickets. While in the Congo, massive overcrowding -- some 60,000 spectators were allegedly allowed into a stadium equipped with a 40,000 capacity -- has been allied to overzealous policing as the cause. Neither allegation has been proven, but that seems to be the consensus of unofficial opinion. And therein lies the problem as far as Africa's World Cup Finals ambitions are concerned. Had it been a case of hooliganism that caused either tragedy, then the Confederation of African football could rightly have pointed to similar instances of crowd violence in Europe, which did not preclude countries like Germany, England and Holland from hosting either World Cups or European Championships. However, where Africa came up short was on the issue of organization and security. And sadly, that is one of the areas where those skeptical of the continent getting the finals have raised the most issues. Do the Africans have the infrastructure in place to support the world's second biggest sporting event? Will they have the finances to build the stadiums and facilities to the standard required, and the expertise to do so on time? Will there be adequate security for the visiting teams and fans? All valid questions, and ones that have to be asked of any World Cup host regardless of what part of the world they inhabit.
Incidentally, I appreciate that Africa is a continent not a single country. Though for the purposes of World Cup hosting FIFA appear to be considering it as such, so I'll remain consistent with them. So what will be the fallout from the tragedies of the last few weeks? Well, if the immediate reaction of FIFA is anything to go by the answer is none at all. Football's governing body, whose President, Sepp Blatter , has been championing Africa's cause since before he was elected, has been quick to point out that the South African incident will in no way jeopardize the country's candidacy for the 2010 finals. And as South Africa is likely to be by far the strongest African candidate to host the finals, given their narrow and controversial loss to Germany for the right to stage the 2006 World Cup, that's tantamount to saying the World Cup will go to Africa come what may. Should that be the case? Well, in the interests of fairness and football I'd have to say yes. As a strong advocate of the rotational system whereby every region of the world gets a chance to share in the World Cup spectacle, I agree that Africa is the most deserving. But when I learn, as I did this week, that South African officials are only now coming round to the idea of controlling the crowd capacity at major venues by limiting entry to ticket-holders of numbered seats (what a radical concept!), I'd have to say I'd reserve judgement. As I've said before on this site, with all the detractors around, the last thing I would want is for Africa's debut as World Cup hosts to be a bad one. Certainly, nine years is a long time. And if this is a wake-up call for Africa in terms of the standards, they must aspire to as hosts then those supporters who died in South Africa and Congo will not have died in vain. I hope so, anyway. I for one would hate the 2010 World Cup to be the first and last African finals in my lifetime. Terry Baddoo is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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