2010 FIFA World Cup
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This article or section contains information about a future sporting event or team. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available. |
| 2010 FIFA World Cup - South Africa FIFA World Cup - South Africa 2010 |
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| Host | South Africa |
The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, an international tournament for football, that is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. It will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by a nation in the Confederation of African Football, leaving OFC as the only FIFA Confederation never to have hosted the event.
Host selection
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy to rotate the event between football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
Egypt
Libya (to co-host with Tunisia)
Morocco
South Africa
Tunisia (to co-host with Libya)
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on May 15 2004 in Zurich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.[1]
Results:
- South Africa, 14 votes
- Morocco, 10 votes
- Egypt, 0 votes
Tunisia withdrew on May 8 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
Libya was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements
Teams
As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically. The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup will be held in Durban, South Africa on November 25 2007.
Qualified Teams
Europe (UEFA)
(53 teams competing for 13 berths)
The European qualification games will start in September 2008 after EURO 2008.[2] UEFA announced on June 23, 2007 that there will be nine qualifying groups in total; eight groups of 6 teams with the last group containing 5.[3] The nine group winners qualify directly for the World Cup while eight best second teams of the nine will compete in a two legged playoff for the final four spots. Note that the 2006 World Cup winner Italy will compete in the qualifiers, just as the 2002 World Cup winner Brazil did for the 2006 World Cup. The draw and match dates for the qualifiers will be made on November 25, 2007, in Durban.
South America (CONMEBOL)
(10 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff against North and Central America and the Caribbean to determine exact number)
The CONMEBOL qualification process will again feature a league system (home and away matches) for a single group of 10 associations. The start date is October 13 2007.[4]
North, Central American and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
(35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths, with playoff against South America to determine exact number)
The CONCACAF qualification process will begin in February 2008, and is identical to that for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It will consist of two preliminary rounds to reduce the 35 entrants to 24 and then 12 teams, followed by 3 semifinal groups of 4, with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group.
Asia (AFC)
(43 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff against Oceania to determine exact number)
The first round will take place in October 2007, with the teams ranked 6-24 in the AFC (based on previous World Cup performance) playing two-legged matches against the teams ranked 25-43. The second round will consist of four 2-legged matches between the 8 lowest ranked of the 19 first round winners.
The third round will see the 4 winners from the second round join the 11 highest ranked winners from the first round matches and also teams ranked 1-5 (exempted from the first two rounds) in 5 groups of 4 teams, to be draw at the main qualifying draw in South Africa. The top 2 teams from these 5 groups will go into the final round, where there will be 2 groups of 5 teams each.
The top two sides in each of these final groups will qualify for the finals, the two third-placed sides playing-off to determine which plays the Oceania winner for a spot in the World Cup finals.
Africa (CAF)
(51 teams competing for 5 berths)
The CAF qualification process will begin with a two-leg preliminary round in October 2007 to narrow the field to 48 teams, and then groups will be drawn in Durban in November 2007.[2]
South Africa as hosts, qualify automatically. In total therefore, CAF will have 6 berths.
Oceania (OFC)
(10 teams competing for 0 or 1 berth, playoff with Asia to determine exact number)
(Tuvalu will also be competing, but they cannot qualify as they are not a member of FIFA)
The qualification process began with a tournament at the 2007 Pacific Games in August. The top three, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, will contest the 2008 OFC Nations Cup with New Zealand, in a four-team group with each team playing the others on a home-and-away basis. The winners will play the 5th placed team in the Asian competition to determine who advances to the World Cup finals.[2]
League format tiebreakers
In world football there are various methods used to separate teams with equal points in a league. For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following system.[5]
In the league format, the ranking in each group is determined as follows:
a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:
d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
Venues
In 2005, the organizers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria (two), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues which were officially announced on 17 March, 2006 by FIFA:
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg | Soccer City (being upgraded) | 94,700 |
| Cape Town | Green Point Stadium (being constructed at site of Metropolitan Golf Course) | 70,000 |
| Durban | Moses Mabidha Stadium (being constructed at site of demolished Kings Park Soccer Stadium) | 70,000 |
| Johannesburg | Ellis Park Stadium (being upgraded) | 60,000 |
| Tshwane/Pretoria | Loftus Versfeld Stadium (being upgraded) | 52,000 |
| Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (under construction) | 46,500 |
| Mangaung/Bloemfontein | Free State Stadium (being upgraded) | 46,000 |
| Polokwane | Peter Mokaba Stadium (being constructed adjacent to existing Peter Mokaba Stadium) | 45,000 |
| Nelspruit | Mbombela Stadium (under construction) | 46,000 |
| Rustenburg | Royal Bafokeng Stadium | 46,000 |
Preparations
Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three match venues and two practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.[6]
In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure, and implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements.[7]
Rumours of tournament being moved
Rumours have circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.[8][9] Some people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt, and reportedly, some FIFA executives, have expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa’s preparations.[10][8] However, FIFA officials have repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and have stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa".[11][12] Mr. Blatter has stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the 2006 World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.[13][12]
Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continue to circulate about possible relocation of the event.[14] These rumors have been criticised by South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and Africa.[15]
Controversies
Several non-governmental organisations and poor people's movements have expressed major concern about plans to regulate the prevalence of squatter camp shelters to improve the image of the World Cup venues. Concerns are particularly acute in Durban where local politicians have promised to 'clear the slums by 2010'.[1] It has also been argued that it is inappropriate to invest so much public money on stadia when much of the population lacks basic services and housing. [2]
There are also concerns about the wave of political unrest that has seen increasingly large and tense mass demonstrations by shack dwellers in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg some of which have resulted in blockades of major highways and serious clashes with the police.
References
- ^ Host nation of 2010 FIFA World Cup™ - South Africa. FIFA (2004-05-15). Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
- ^ a b c http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/regulations/index.html
- ^ EXCO unveils World Cup programme http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=554858.html
- ^ FIFA (2006-12-06). Clear declaration to defend the autonomy of sport. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010™ Regulations - Article 17.6. Fifa (2007-07).
- ^ "SA faces R8.4bn stadium bill", News24, 2006-10-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
- ^ "2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act, 2006", Republic of South Africa, Minister of Sport and Recreation - Online Government Gazette No. 28593, 2006-03-10. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
- ^ a b Luke Harding. "Doubt over South Africa 2010", The Guardian, 2006-06-12. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
- ^ Jermaine Craig. "Fifa denies SA may lose 2010 World Cup", The Star, 2006-07-03. Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
- ^ "Beckenbauer issues 2010 warning", BBC News, 2006-09-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.
- ^ Sivuyile Mangxamba et. al. "SA will host 2010 World Cup, says Blatter", Pretoria News, 2006-10-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
- ^ a b Sean Yoong. "FIFA says South Africa 'definitely' will host 2010 World Cup", Associated Press, 2007-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ "FIFA confirm World Cup back-up plan for 2010", ESPNsoccernet, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ "Fifa makes 2010 Cup back-up plan", BBC Sport, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ SAPA. "World Cup: 'Pessimists to eat their words'", IOL Online, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
External links
- International Marketing Council of South Africa 2010 website
- South Africa 2010 news site
- FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 fan site
- Countdown to 2010
- The fotolog
- The official 2010 host country website
- South Africa 2010 Facts and Stadium Informations
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