Comments on: When Trumpets Fade – The South Africa Legacy

By: Jon Owen

Jon Owen — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:16:31 +0000

It would appear that FIFA have used the world cup as a giant money spinner, who knew they were only interested in making money . . . . ? If they really wanted to help Africa, they could have held it in a modern country and donated any profit to developing the sport, and infrastructure in Africa.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:52:39 +0000

did we really expect the world cup money to be used for improving the lives of people in South Africa’s slums? are we that naive?

By: David Brown

David Brown — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:40:04 +0000

FIFA promised a lasting legacy post World Cup. There were promises of reducing unemployment figures, advancing South Africa socially and economically and improving conditions. What I have tried to portray in this piece is that these promises have not been upheld, hence the figures to support this. In terms of police power, this was increased prior to the World Cup taking place so that the homeless could be moved away from public view and the so-called trouble makers locked away to make the country appear more appealing. These powers have not been decreased following the conclusion of the tournament which is why I have referenced this. South Africa are still waiting on a £50 million payment from FIFA promised for education and healthcare. As you correctly say there were no magical promises claiming to solve these issues but there were claims to improve the situation. However, they were merely swept under the rug for a month while the world visited only to resurface and get progressively worse at the end of the tournament. The Athens Olympics have been blamed as one of the reasons that Greece are currently in such a bad financial situation and it is no coincidence that the cost of the World Cup has hurt South Africa. FIFA did claim that a lasting legacy would be felt all over Africa but with such social strife, how can this be the case?

By: mintox

mintox — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:12:04 +0000

There are some tenuous links being made between FIFA, The World Cup and the problems in South Africa.

You’re suggestions border on implying that FIFA has somehow hoodwinked the South African people with promises of a greater future after hosting the World Cup.

There was certainly no claims that hosting the world cup would somehow magically solve the problems of unemployment and the number of people who live in ghetto conditions.

Problems with police power are more to do with government policy than the world cup.

And it would take a significant level of naivety to think that hosting the cup would leave some sort of lasting decrease in unemployment.

It’s all well and good to quote rising inflation figures but again, what’s that got to do with the World Cup?