world cup

The South African World Cup finally kicks off and the TV sporting spectacular has begun but let's not forget those who cannot even afford to buy a football. In a country where the minimum wage is roughly 230 Rand (£21) per week, many South Africans cannot afford the 249 Rand for the official World Cup ball.

Sowetan writer Andile Mngxitama said all Fifa is giving Africa is a month-long feel-good episode which will do little, long-term, to change perceptions or economic realities.
"The World Cup is a colonial playground for the rich and for a few wannabes in the so-called South African elite," he argued. "Whereas in the past we were conquered, the South African government has simply invited the colonisers this time…”

Community leader Zikhali Ngesi also echoed this view "The people who will benefit from the World Cup are the rich - it's not the poor."

Township shack dwellers whose numbers have grown by 50 per cent in the first ten year of post-apartheid , have little to gain from billion dollar stadiums.

Most workers were delighted with this sporting circus and some are still delirious but others now less so. Lewellyn Wilters said he "cried with joy" when he first heard six years ago that South Africa would host the World Cup. "Now I'm crying again. I'm going to lose my home because of the World Cup, and what makes it worse is that we are being told that we must move for a parking lot. We don't want the World Cup because these people [Fifa] come with their own rules and in the end it's the locals that suffer," Mr Wilters said. "We don't even have electricity in here, so we won't be able to watch the games on television. What's the use of supporting Bafana [the South African team] when we can't watch them."

There are some laws in economics and one that always seems to hold true is the organisers of sporting mega-events always overestimate the economic benefits and underestimate the costs. There is, however, ample evidence of underestimated costs - countries left with underused stadiums and facilities which are ruinously expensive to maintain. This could turn out to be the case for the South African World Cup too.
One thing is for sure, football's world governing body, Fifa (known as Thiefa ), will not be forking out. Fifa will pocket the vast majority of the money raised by the sale of media rights and global sponsorship deals as well as some of the income from ticket sales. South African workers, on the other hand, will be paying the costs. Economists who have tried to quantify the impact of these occasions on job creation have found that there are almost no long-term employment benefits.

Under strict bylaws enforced at the insistence of football's governing body, informal traders – a crucial part of any African economy – have been banned around the 10 stadiums where matches will be played. Fifa has already brought more than 400 cases for "ambush marketing" against South African companies and individuals. The Cape Town police have a special units to clear away hawkers. Martin Legassick, a retired professor from University of the Western Cape points out that the economic gains of the country will likely be isolated to the economically powerful. Legassick explained, “The thing is the profits will go to big businesses and to Fifa …”

Like Coca-Cola and Adidas – both official sponsors of the World Cup – South Africa is a brand. Globalization and brand recognition have led many nations to market their identities as international brands. In fact, many developing nations have little choice but to resort to these international spectacles to lure investment. Brand South Africa is “open for business.” Capitalism will reveal that the World Cup’s real winners are going to be Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Sony, Hyundai, Visa, Budweiser, Castrol Oil, Continental Tire, McDonalds, in addition to the five local South African sponsors, which include South Africa’s largest bank FNB and Telkom.

David Goldblatt, an expert on world football and the author of The Ball is Round, a political history of the game informs us that "In the past 20 years, the trickle of African talent to the rest of the world has become a flood," he continues. "Satellite TV, global labour markets, football scouts and academies have performed the same function as colonial railways – getting the raw materials out of Africa and into Europe. In this case, the raw material is talent..."

Our African companion blog Socialist Banner carried a stories of the traffic in children who possessed football skills in this post and here

Under capitalism everything tends to be reduced to something that is bought and sold. Footballers are no exception. Once they were simply people enjoying themselves. Now they have become products to be paid for and consumed passively, provided by profit-seeking businesses. In a profit-driven society, football becomes an industry in which players and spectators are tools used by wealthy individuals and groups to make profits.

So, if you like football, enjoy watching the South African World Cup if you can. But behind all the endless televised replays and the post-match inquests into fouls and offsides, remember that it’s all part of the greater game of dividing workers from each other. Each of the competing nations will bring its own brand of patriotic myth to the proceedings. No doubt the media will stoke up these nationalist sentiments. How many St George flags will be flying from cars, houses and pubs in England while the tournament is on? Sadly, many football fans will follow this jingoistic nonsense. But it would be nice to think that meeting supporters from elsewhere will show that ordinary people, whatever language they speak or whatever passport they carry, have far more in common with each other than with their bosses and rulers. People are beginning to think in world terms. More and more people are coming to appreciate world music and world cinema. Millions more follow world sporting events such as the World Cup, and there is a growing consciousness that all humans are part of one world, that we share a common planet. Lets show capitalism the red card !

The costs:-
Transport - $1.2bn
Stadiums - $1.12bn
Organising committee - $428m
Broadcasting/ICT - $387m
Ports of entry - $200m
Security - $89m
Legacy projects - $45m
Telecommunications - $40m
Arts and culture - $20m
Training volunteers - $3m
Total cost - $3.5bn