{"id":6966,"date":"2010-03-02T10:53:13","date_gmt":"2010-03-02T08:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=6966"},"modified":"2010-03-02T11:01:37","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T09:01:37","slug":"100-day-countdown-are-we-on-track-for-world-cup-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/100-day-countdown-are-we-on-track-for-world-cup-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"100 day countdown: are we on track for World Cup 2010?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The countdown to the last 100 days to the largest sports event ever to\u00a0be hosted by South Africa\u00a0starts today.\u00a0\u00a0 FIFA has given South Africa 8\/10 for its readiness to host the World Cup, with only 100 days left for it to become 10\/10, reports the Cape Argus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A whirlwind visit by the FIFA\u00a0and Local Organising Committee top executives and 120\u00a0local and international journalists of all ten the World Cup host cities has focused attention on the status of the preparations for the event.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 The Cape Town Stadium is completed, and two test events which have taken place in the stadium went off reasonably smoothly.\u00a0 FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke heaped praise on Cape Town for its stadium yesterday, and he said that the city stadium pitch\u00a0should be the benchmark for all stadiums.\u00a0\u00a0 Valcke also\u00a0said that “Cape Town will be the perfect place to be during the World Cup.”\u00a0\u00a0 He lauded the Cape Town Stadium, and said that it would attract many thousands of soccer fans, even after the completion of the World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The pitch at Mombela Stadium in Nelspruit is currently a sandpit, but will be ready for the June start.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 The roads in most host cities and highways leading to them, have been significantly improved, and should be completed by April.\u00a0 The roads in Cape Town in particular will be transformed, with the N1 and the N2 both having more lanes, and previous traffic blockages such as Hospital Bend on the N2 will be something of the past soon.\u00a0\u00a0 Even in the city centre, the roads and pavements have been radically improved in Green Point, close to the Cape Town Stadium, making it a pleasure to drive past the Stadium to get to the Waterfront, and to walk in the area.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The roads around the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg and the Mombela Stadium in Nelspruit are still\u00a0in a poor condition.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 Bookings seem to have slowed down to a trickle as far as accommodation is concerned, and this is FIFA’s current largest challenge, in that international media are reporting negatively about the “rip-off” pricing in South Africa and the level of crime.\u00a0\u00a0 These two factors appear to be the major deterrents to soccer fans attending the matches.\u00a0\u00a0 Accommodation in a leading suburb like Camps Bay in Cape Town, a 10 minute drive from Cape Town Stadium, is about 50 % booked for the World Cup.\u00a0\u00a0 MATCH, FIFA’s accommodation agency, has been severely criticised for creating the image of “rip-off pricing”,\u00a0 by adding 30\u00a0% commission to all its package components,\u00a0including accommodation, tickets, flight tickets, and transport.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 FIFA’s is expanding the number of low cost tickets it is making available to South Africa, and denies lowering the price of its category 3 and 4 ticket prices offered to South Africans.\u00a0\u00a0 But tickets are not selling as they should, meaning that the estimate of 450000 international soccer fans attending the World Cup will not be achieved, meaning more locals will make up the viewership, but will not be using the hospitality facilities which have been pitched at international soccer fans.\u00a0\u00a0 More tickets could be made available at lower prices closer to the start of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0 Excitement in South Africa about the World Cup remains low, and in fact appears to have reduced in interest since the Final Draw of 4 December.\u00a0\u00a0 This follows the news that the international soccer fans will not be attending as expected, and that top international trainers are expressing their resistamce and restentment to FIFA for choosing South Africa and maybe even Africa as the host country for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0 What was meant to be an African World Cup, stressed to be such by FIFA President Sepp Blatter over and over again, appears to be a South African World Cup.\u00a0 Due to a reduced demand of accommodation, MATCH is not using accommodation in neighbouring countries or in Mauritius, as previously threatened.\u00a0 Worst of all is that ticket sales to soccer fans in African countries\u00a0are extremely low (about 2 %), due to the difficulty in making bookings via the internet in African countries, and the low ownership of credit cards on this continent.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0 What is missing is a campaign of support, to enthuse South Africans to be positive about the World Cup, and to be friendly and generous to soccer fans.\u00a0 In Germany an advertising campaign was launched in the last few months prior to the start of the World Cup 2006, with the slogan :”Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden” (The world at home with friends), to encourage the generally stiff Germans to reach out and welcome soccer fans from around the world.\u00a0\u00a0 The campaign was particularly successful in uniting East and West Germans at the time. Plans to teach locals foreign languages such as Spanish and French, and to guide them in regard to cultural differences, \u00a0have not been followed through.\u00a0\u00a0 Volunteers have been interviewed but not appointed.\u00a0 Some of them will be appointed for their foreign language skills, and for their knowledge of their city.\u00a0\u00a0 But time is running thin, to train them as to how to deal with the calibre of such an event.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0 What will give the marketing of the World Cup a much-needed boost will be the attendance of the World Cup by VIP’s : those that appear likely to attend include President Obama; Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder; top businessperson Lakshmi Mittal;\u00a0Businessperson and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich;\u00a0 Charlize Theron, who assisted with the Final Draw in December; Victoria Beckham, who is said to have rented an apartment in Camps Bay rather than join the England team in Rustenburg;\u00a0rapper Akon and possibly Lady Gaga;\u00a0 Franz Beckenbauer, previous German star soccer\u00a0player and trainer, will spend the first five days of the World Cup\u00a0on the MS Noordam outside Durban, reports The Times<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Cape Town celebrates the 100-day countdown with a demonstration of the Diski Dance at Cape Town Stadium, organised by Cape Town Tourism.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The countdown to the last 100 days to the largest sports event ever to\u00a0be hosted by South Africa\u00a0starts today.\u00a0\u00a0 FIFA has given South Africa 8\/10 for its readiness to host the World Cup, with only 100 days left for it to become 10\/10, reports the Cape Argus. A whirlwind visit by the FIFA\u00a0and Local Organising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[15,3,124,21,11],"tags":[3704,32367,2158,3715,3724,32370,32366,32397,2901,32378,2063,3717,2912,560,666,3713,3171,947,3711,3723,3721,128,347,504,3720,3708,2262,3719,3710,1799,3705,3707,3712,3726,3709,3706,96,32388,3714,3725,3718,1768,482,32373,531,3716],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t