ECONOMY: Germany Helping South Africa With 2010 Soccer World Cup?

When last October German head of government Angela Merkel visited South
Africa, she and then South African head of state Thabo Mbeki signed an
agreement according to which Germany would share its knowledge and
experience'' to support South Africa's organisation of the next FIFA
Football World Cup in 2010.

This agreement was based on the impression that Germany, organiser of
the 2006 cup, could provide assistance to the South African organising
committee and sport authorities to ensure that the event of 2010 be as
successful as the previous one.

FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany was indeed a success. Not only were the
audiences massive, the event passed practically without any unpleasant
incident. And the cup established new standards in environmental
protection and organisation.

Therefore, the German cooperation with South Africa could be seen as a
guarantee of sorts that the event of 2010 would meet these new
standards. However, when asked about what concrete forms this
cooperation is taking, the responsible German authorities are either
vague or downright mute.

German support for South Africa in this matter has even a name: Horst
R. Schmidt, current treasurer at the National Football Federation (DFB,
after its German name). According to the DFB, Schmidt has been official
counsellor of the South African organising committee since Oct 2006.

That is, his counselling has nothing to do with the cooperation agreement Merkel and Mbeki signed in Oct 2008.

For the past two years, Mr. Schmidt has spent at least one week per
month in South Africa, participating in sessions and supervising
activities of the local organising committee,'' Thomas Hackbarth, a DFB
spokesperson, told IPS.

Hackbarth underlined that Schmidt is a long-time and successful
organiser of international sport events''. Schmidt was a member of the
German organising committee of the Olympic Games in 1972 and served as
the DFB's managing director between 1992 and 2007. He was also deputy
executive director of the German organising committee of the 2006 cup.

According to Hackbarth, the focus of (Schmidt’s) counselling function
in South Africa is the organisation of the ticketing, the construction
of stadiums and supporting the organisational structure of the local
organising committee.''

But, when asked what concrete forms the German cooperation with South
Africa takes, Hackbarth became vague, and referred IPS to the German
government for concrete information. The ministry of the interior and
the ministry for foreign affairs would be involved in the official
cooperation with South Africa, he said.

However, at the German ministry of the interior, which is responsible
for sport, a spokesperson told IPS, we have no formal cooperation
relation with the South African football association or with the world
cup organising committee.

For that matter, you should ask at the chancellery (Merkel's office)
or at the DFB,'' Gabrielle Hermani told IPS. You can also try the
ministry for international cooperation.''

The ministry for foreign affairs reacted in similar fashion. There is
no formal cooperation between the ministry and the sport authorities in
South Africa,'' a ministry spokesperson said. The chancellery did not
answer IPS questions on the issue.

Hackbarth said that the German environmental programme for the 2006
cup, known as Green Goal, has been an issue closely followed by South
African sport authorities.

We gave the South African organising committee all our Green Goal
documentation,'' he said. The 2006 cup Green Goal commissioners took
part in counselling sessions in Dec 2008 during a visit of the South
African organising committee delegation to Germany.''

The German Green Goal programme was indeed a success. Some 74 percent
of the audience did use public transport, especially trains, to travel
to the stadiums. All greenhouse gases emissions produced by the event
were compensated for with environmental programmes in South Africa and
India.

Furthermore, all electricity consumed by the event was generated by
renewable sources. In addition, the 2006 cup saved up to 20 percent of
the water and electricity budgeted for the event.

But it is debatable whether South Africa could benefit from this
experience. In an interview, Schmidt admitted that the railroad system
in South Africa could not fulfil the role it played in Germany for the
transport of the audiences.

In 2010, railroad transportation won’t play the dominant part it has
played in former occasions,'' Schmidt said. And the taxi and the bus
systems in South Africa must still be upgraded substantially.''

Similarly, it is doubtful that South Africa can develop by 2010 energy
and water saving schemes comparable to those used in Germany.

But Schmidt was optimistic that the South African stadiums will satisfy
international standards. I visited South Africa again this January
(2009),'' he said. I know for sure that between 1,500 and 2,000
workers are working at each stadium. The stadiums will be for the world
cup next year.''

He also dismissed fears that crime will be a danger at the event.
South Africa has a lot of experience in organising international
sport competitions, such as the African Cup of Nations, and the rugby
and cricket world cups,'' he said. All these events happened without
unforeseen violent incidents,'' he insisted.

What Schmidt did not say is that South Africa hosted these events
without any support from Europe in general or Germany in particular.

(IPS)