South Africa set to score
Big sporting events are not as profitable as their hosts expect. But who cares?
IT IS Africa's turn to host the soccer World Cup, and about time too. Africans are holding their breath to find out, on May 15th, which of five nations—South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya—will host the tournament in 2010. South Africa is the favourite. This week, a technical team from FIFA (the international football association) said that its roads, hotels, airports and stadiums were “excellent”, unlike those of other bidders. South Africa's experience hosting the cricket and rugby World Cups—smaller events, but they passed without many glitches—should also help its bid. Having Nelson Mandela's support is handy too.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “South Africa set to score”
From the May 8th 2004 edition
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