World Cup 2010 - For South Africa, the Game is Afoot / IPS Inter Press Service

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Monday, May 21, 2012 14:37 GMT

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AFRICA
FIFA Moves Against Trafficking of Young Footballers
By Fulgence Zamblé
ABIDJAN - When he was 15, Maurice Koné dreamed of becoming a great footballer. Adored for his technical skill and eye for goal by fans in Koumassi, a neighbourhood in the south of Abidjan, he dreamed of living the life of a professional overseas.
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WORLD CUP
'Now We Demand They Do It For the Poor'
By Davison Mudzingwa
CAPE TOWN - Weak floodlights barely held back gathering darkness as Somalia met Serbia in the finals of the Poor People's World Cup. A small band of supporters were on hand to see an African side lift the cup in Cape Town's Vygieskraal Stadium.
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MIGRATION-PORTUGAL
On the Football Pitch, Everyone Is Equal
By Mario de Queiroz
LISBON - Football functions on so many levels. It can be big business, moving astronomical quantities of cash, with obscene salaries for owners, coaches and star players. And it can be a widely played sport, found in every park, street or vacant lot. And it can be the common ground for multicultural coexistence.
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BRAZIL
Football Paves the Way to Masculinity Without Violence
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - It’s Friday night, and in a "favela" (shanty town) in this Brazilian city, a group of men relax with a beer after a hard week, while a song can be heard above the rowdy chatter.
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SPORTS
Power and Passion Put Football Above the Law
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - The FIFA Football World Cup is presented -- and felt emotionally by millions -- as a contest amongst countries in which national honour is at stake. But it is also a private business, controlled by a small group of people who exploit patriotism and foment rivalries in marketing the "product."
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Liberian Woman in the Centre Circle
By Tamasin Ford
MONROVIA - Vivian Howard is a single mother who cooks and cleans like just about any other woman in Liberia - but in her work life she’s in charge of 22 strong, athletic men. The first and only centre female referee in Liberia with a FIFA badge, Howard is standing shoulder to shoulder with the men of Liberia.
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Football Leaves Legacy of Hope in Namibia
By Patience Nyangove
WINDHOEK - Throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organisers have insisted that the legacy of the event goes far beyond the sporting spectacle. In the dusty streets of a Windhoek township, Deon Namiseb believes this is true.
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PAKISTAN
The Other Side Of World Cup Footballs
By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Pakistan - England coach Fabio Capello has bemoaned the unpredictable trajectory of the Jabulani World Cup ball, calling it "the worst ball"in the history of the tournament. But labour rights groups have a greater complaint.
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Not Everyone in Peru Is Winning "Championship" Against Poverty
By Ángel Páez
LIMA - The Peruvian government is taking advantage of the broadcasts of the World Cup football games in South Africa to air an ad touting a reduction in the poverty rate from 48 to 34 percent between 2005 and 2009 as an achievement of the administration of President Alan García.
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BRAZIL
Murky Finances Haunt 2014 Football World Cup
By Leonel Plügel
RIO DE JANEIRO - Delays in construction to prepare for the 2014 football World Cup, to be hosted by Brazil, bring to mind the budget overruns and the secretive bidding process ahead of the Pan-American Games held in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.
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WORLD CUP
United For Africa - Making it Last
By Nastasya Tay*
JOHANNESBURG - Perhaps Africa's World Cup began in earnest on Jun. 16, when a despondent green and gold-clad crowd began leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium even before the end of South Africa's heavy defeat to Uruguay. Migrant African fans felt the first touch of cold post-tournament reality.
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COLOMBIA
Drug Trade's Hold on Football Persists
By Helda Martínez
BOGOTÁ - Football, the most popular sport in Colombia, has been subject to heavy pressures from drug trafficking since the mid-1970s. A new study shows that the illicit trade continues to tarnish the upper echelons of this sport.
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BRAZIL
The Football Nation Doesn't Forget Its Heroes
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - Long known as "the football nation," Brazil today is seeking a new title: recognition as a global economic and political power -- though without denying the sport that made it famous.
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Risking Life and Limb for Football in Somalia
By Abdurrahman Warsameh
MOGADISHU - "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that," former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said. Uncomfortably close to a bald statement of fact for fans of the beautiful game in Somalia, who risk their lives to watch the World Cup unfolding in South Africa.
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Argentine Football Violence Exported to South Africa
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - No one admits to providing them with support, but hundreds of Argentine football hooligans known as "barras bravas" flew to South Africa for the World Cup and are threatening to cause disturbances if the football clubs do not get them tickets to the games.
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MEXICO
Playing Political Football
By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government and capital city authorities are making the most of the national football team's participation in the FIFA World Cup beginning Friday in South Africa, by using the sport's power to distract public attention away from the economic crisis and the violent battle against drug trafficking.
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ARGENTINA
Football Referee School Offers Way Out of Poverty
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - A new school to train football referees to work amateur-level tournaments in Argentina aims at providing skills and a legitimate source of income for young people from poor homes.
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BRAZIL
"Gol de Letra" Scores Goals off the Playing Field
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - In a country where many poor children dream of "making it big" through football or modeling, retired Brazilian football stars Leonardo and Raí could have simply basked in their fame. But they decided instead to combine sport with education, art and skills training.
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Fouls and Goals for Climate Change at World Cup
By Daniela Estrada*
PUNTA DEL ESTE, Uruguay - South Africa, where the FIFA Football World Cup is to kick off Jun. 11, has introduced cleaner transportation, while Brazil is planning ecological stadiums for the championship it will host in 2014. But these and other initiatives clash with the countries' overall environmental performance.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Will Soccer World Cup Attract Human Traffickers?
By Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN - A fierce debate has erupted over claims that the 2010 Soccer World Cup will fuel the trafficking of women from African and other countries to South Africa for sexual exploitation during the cup, which starts on Jun 11.
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Football Fortunes for Mexican TV
By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY - Horacio Ramos is not bothered about paying an extra 50 dollars on his television subscription so that he can watch the entire FIFA World Cup, which kicks off Jun. 11 in South Africa.
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PARAGUAY
Football - Dream for Kids, Moneyspinner for Adults
By Natalia Ruiz Díaz
ASUNCION - From passion for football, to football as a profession: many parents in Paraguay are hoping this sport will provide a career for their sons, who flood into football schools with the burden of their dreams -- and their parents' demands -- to become sports idols.
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Gaza 'World Cup' Scores Several Goals
By Pam Bailey
GAZA CITY - Football is the world's most popular sport, boasting more than an estimated 2 billion fans. And despite its isolation from the world through Israel's four-year- old blockade, the Gaza Strip is no exception. When a football match is on, tea and shisha cafes are packed with people gathered around the TV sets.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Teaching Girls to Report on the World Cup
By Brian Dalek *
NEW YORK - For the nearly 50 million people of South Africa, the 2010 World Cup represents an opportunity to show the world its progress through sports. But for a new nonprofit organisation, soccer's biggest stage also offers an opportunity to publicise young women who tend to go unheard.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Playing Football for Hope
By Zukiswa Zimela
JOHANNESBURG - Sixteen-year-old Neo Malema and his brothers and sister live with his grandmother in the impoverished Alexandra Township in Johannesburg. Despite his poor background, Malema dreams of one day playing football for the country’s national squad, Bafana Bafana.
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ARGENTINA
Football Violence Flares Up Ahead of World Cup
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - "Your president is willing to confront the wildest hordes of opponents, but not a football fan, ever," Argentine President Cristina Fernández once joked.
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WORLD CUP
But South Africa Will Win
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM - Less than a hundred days to go, and the world looks on, often more with scepticism than anticipation.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Community Fears World Cup Will Cause Homelessness
By Ann Hellman
CAPE TOWN - While South African parliamentarians attended a swanky pre-International Women’s Day celebration at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre, a group of destitute women in decaying Kewtown, just seven miles away, worried about looming homelessness.
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The best of times, the worst of times: the 2010 football World Cup is a tale of nine cities, a story of 204 teams, narrowing over and over to a tale of 22 men, a ball, and the hopes of a packed stadium...

The soccer World Cup comes for the first time to Africa. The competition is perhaps the most-watched event in world sport. South Africa, the host nation, has spent billions of dollars on new stadiums, security and transport infrastructure. At stake is not just a successful event, but the image of Africa.

The pressure to present a positive image of Africa by hosting a successful tournament is immense. South Africa is out to show that a developing nation can do what a developed nation can - and do it better.