2010, Africa's year

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Friday January 8, 2010 00:00

It is almost five years since FIFA president, Sepp Blatter pulled out a piece of paper from an envelope, which pronounced South Africa as the first ever African country to host the World Cup. The rainbow nation as South Africa is affectionately known, rejoiced. The rest of the continent joined in the celebrations as for the first time in the World Cup's 80-year history, the 18 carat gold trophy would be contested for in Africa.

That jubilation has been gaining momentum in recent years and will explode into a colourful carnival on June 11 when 32 nations converge in South Africa for the world's biggest soccer spectacular. South Africa will host Mexico on the opening day as the month-long tournament roars into life. The World Cup will certainly dominate the sports pages in 2010 and overshadow any other event.

The Africa Cup of Nations finals, which gets underway in the Angolan capital, Luanda on Sunday have received less attention as a result of the coming World Cup. Africa hosted two junior World Cups in Egypt and Nigeria in 2009, which were largely successful. The two tournaments served as a precursor to the main event and showcased Africa's readiness to welcome football lovers to the continent.

The World Cup will come as a refreshing divergence to Africa, which has battled against famine, wars and most recently the global economic downturn.

While South Africa hosts the World Cup, its neighbours and other far-flung countries in the continent are ready to make the most from the soccer showpiece. Facilities in most countries have been upgraded in anticipation of an influx of tourists into the continent.

African countries have been marketing themselves as possible destinations for teams to set up base ahead of the World Cup. But sadly the majority of the countries, including Botswana have drawn blanks.

The World Cup has been pronounced as an African event but it increasingly looks like the hosts will retain a larger slice of the benefits.

Ticket sales indicate that the majority of visiting fans might come from traditional crowd pullers, England and the United States with few African countries purchasing tickets.

The majority of the teams have indicated that they will camp in South Africa, a huge blow for other African countries hoping to attract the visitors to their shores. Even in the absence of substantial benefits to other countries, Africa will be expected to rally behind South Africa for a successful World Cup.

The AFCON, the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) flagship competition kicks off on Sunday and should provide African teams that have qualified for the World Cup with the much-needed experience. Locally, the battle for the be MOBILE Premier League's tempting P1million first prize money continues. Township Rollers are currently riding the crest of the wave after a fine start propelled them seven points nearly halfway through the campaign.

It should be an interesting chase considering that three crowd pullers occupy the top three positions. Lobatse side, Extension Gunners lie second while 2007/2008 champions, Mochudi Centre Chiefs are third.

But Rollers appear a safe bet for the title they last won in 2005 under the late Banks Panene. Uniao Flamengo Santos would have a double task as they seek to conquer Africa in the CAF Confederations Cup and locally, they have to defend their Coca-Cola Cup crown won last year.

Santos face a tough challenge against Mozambican opposition, Costa Do Sol in the CAF competition. Be MOBILE Premier League champions, Gaborone United face a daunting task when they take on Orlando Pirates in the CAF Champions League preliminary round next month. GU reeling from the shock of losing their captain, Joseph Phetogo, might smile all the way to the bank from their encounter against the South Africans. Pirates draw crowds and irrespective of the result on the pitch, GU might reap rich financial rewards.

The public is eagerly awaiting the completion of facilities, two of which are under construction while others are being renovated. The new Francistown and Lobatse stadium were constructed primarily with the 2010 World Cup in mind. But with most teams having settled for their base camps, the increased and improved facilities might turn out to be white elephants. Soccer authorities will be well advised to bid for a major tournament like the AFCON, if the facilities are to bear returns.

Last year's much-publicised match-fixing case which saw Botswana Football Association (BFA) chief executive officer, Mooketsi 'Tosh' Kgotlele suspended could be concluded this year.

Although there are already delays to the case, which erupted after the Zebras' visit to China on September 30, fans remain hopeful that the issue will be speedily concluded.