Johannesburg - Organisers of the upcoming FIFA 2010 World Cup believe the tournament will further unite South Africa, a country that has not entirely shaken off the yoke of apartheid. Local Organising Committee secretary general, Dr Danny Jordaan, said this in Johannesburg after the last meeting of the LOC Board of Directors ahead of the World Cup.The event, he said in a press briefing Wednesday afternoon, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is far more than just a football tournament.
Reconciliation and nation building is also an important aim of this World Cup. We want to make this country better and more united and I think we will achieve that. As we stand just days away now from the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup we can confidently say everything we have promised is now a reality. Through the hard work of tens of thousands of South Africans across the country we have shown the world that we do not just talk about being ready, we are ready, he said.
He said the event was not only worthy celebrating but accorded in opportunity to the country to measure how far it has come.
We always anticipated the day Nelson Mandela would walk out of prison. We always anticipated the day we would vote the first time. And now we anticipate the start of the FIFA World Cup in our country. When these things happen the joy is almost overwhelming. The tournaments kickoff will be a huge day for so many South Africans. It will be a moment to cherish but, also, a moment to remember our past.
In April this year, the country celebrated 16 years of the demise of apartheid but racial tensions sometimes spring up. The murder of rightwing leader Eugene Terreblanche (one suspect is Zimbabwean) in the same month sparked tensions among the races. However, sport has in the past proven to unify this young democracy. Events worth mentioning in that regard are the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the African Nations Cup a year later as well as the Cricket World Cup in 2003.
Post published in: News