The '2010 FIFA World Cup' will be the 19th
FIFA World Cup, an international tournament for
football, that is scheduled to take place between
11 June and
11 July 2010 in
South Africa. It will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by a nation in the
Confederation of African Football, leaving
OFC as the only FIFA Confederation never to have hosted the event.
Host selection
Main articles: FIFA World Cup hosts
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy to rotate the event between football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
★
★ (to co-host with Tunisia)
★
★
★ (to co-host with Libya)
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president
Sepp Blatter at a media conference on
May 15 2004 in
Zurich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.
[1]
Results:
#, 14 votes
#, 10 votes
#, 0 votes
#
''withdrew on
May 8 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed''
#
''was not considered: bid did not meet the list of requirements''
Teams
Main articles: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
All Confederations (outside of the
OFC) have yet to start the qualification process for the 2010 World Cup. As the host nation,
South Africa qualifies automatically. The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup will be held in
Durban, South Africa on
November 25 2007.
Qualified Teams
★
Europe (UEFA)
''(53 teams competing for 13 berths)''
The European qualification games will start in September 2008 after
EURO 2008.
[2] UEFA announced on
June 23,
2007 that there will be nine qualifying groups in total; eight groups of 6 teams with the last group containing 5.
[3] The nine group winners qualify directly for the World Cup while eight best second teams of the nine will compete in a two legged playoff for the final four spots. Note that World Champions
Italy will compete in the qualifiers, just as
Brazil did for the
2006 World Cup. The draw and match dates for the qualifiers will be made on
November 25,
2007, in
Durban.
South America (CONMEBOL)
''(10 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff against North and Central America and the Caribbean to determine exact number)''
The CONMEBOL qualification process will again feature a league system (home and away matches) for a single group of 10 associations. The start date is October 2007.
[4]
North, Central American and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
''(35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths, with playoff against South America to determine exact number)''
The CONCACAF qualification process will begin in February 2008, and is identical to that for the
2006 FIFA World Cup. It will consist of two preliminary rounds to reduce the 35 entrants to 24 and then 12 teams, followed by 3 semifinal groups of 4, with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group.
Asia (AFC)
''(43 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff against Oceania to determine exact number)''
The first round will take place in October 2007, with the teams ranked 6-24 in the AFC confederation (based on previous World Cup performance) playing two-legged matches against the teams ranked 25-43. The second round will consist of four 2-legged matches between the 8 lowest ranked of the 19 first round qualifiers. The third round will then see the 4 winners from the second round join the the 11 highest ranked winners from the first round matches and also teams ranked 1-5 (Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran) in 5 groups of 4 teams. The top 2 teams from these 5 groups will go into the final round, where there will be 2 groups of 5 teams each.
Africa (CAF)
''(51 teams competing for 5 berths)''
The CAF qualification process will begin with a two-leg preliminary round in October 2007 to narrow the field to 48 teams, and then groups will be drawn in Durban in November 2007.
[5]
South Africa as hosts, qualify automatically. In total therefore, CAF will have 6 berths.
Oceania (OFC)
''(10 teams competing for 0 or 1 berth, playoff with Asia to determine exact number)''
''(Tuvalu will also be competing, but they cannot qualify as they are not a member of FIFA)''
The qualification process began with a tournament at the
2007 Pacific Games in August. The top three, , , and , will contest the 2008
OFC Nations Cup with
New Zealand, in a four-team group with each team playing the others on a home-and-away basis. The winners will play the 5th placed team in the
Asian competition to determine who advances to the World Cup finals.
[5]
League Format Tiebreakers
In world football there are various methods used to separate teams with equal points in a league. For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following system.
[8]
'''In the league format, the ranking in each group is determined as follows:'
''
a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
'If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:'
d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between
the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the
teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the
teams concerned;
g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
Venues
In 2005, the organizers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup:
Bloemfontein,
Cape Town,
Durban,
Johannesburg (two),
Kimberley,
Nelspruit,
Orkney,
Polokwane,
Port Elizabeth,
Pretoria (two), and
Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues which were officially announced on
17 March,
2006 by FIFA:
| City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|
| Johannesburg | Soccer City (to be upgraded) | 94,700 |
| Durban | Moses Mabidha Stadium (to be built on site of demolished Kings Park Soccer Stadium) | 70,000 |
| Cape Town | Green Point Stadium (to be built and old one demolished) | 68,000 |
| Johannesburg | Ellis Park Stadium (to be upgraded) | 60,000 |
| Tshwane/Pretoria | Loftus Versfeld Stadium (to be upgraded) | 52,000 |
| Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (to be built) | 50,000 |
| Mangaung/Bloemfontein | Free State Stadium (to be upgraded) | 48,000 |
| Polokwane | Peter Mokaba Stadium (to be built and old one demolished) | 45,000 |
| Nelspruit | Mbombela Stadium (to be built) | 43,000 |
| Rustenburg | Royal Bafokeng Stadium | 40,000 |
Preparations
Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three match venues and two practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.
[9]
In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current
public transport infrastructure, and implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements.
[10]
Rumours of tournament being moved
Rumours have circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.
[11][12] Some people, including
Franz Beckenbauer,
Horst R. Schmidt, and reportedly, some
FIFA executives, have expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa’s preparations.
[13] However, FIFA officials have repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and have stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president
Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa".
[14][15] Mr. Blatter has stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the
2006 World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.
[16]
Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continue to circulate about possible relocation of the event.
[17] These rumors have been criticised by
South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister
Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and
Africa.
[18]
Controversies
Several
non-governmental organisations and poor people's movements have expressed major concern about plans to regulate the prevalence of
squatter camp shelters to improve the image of the World Cup venues. Concerns are particularly acute in
Durban where local politicians have promised to 'clear the slums by 2010'.
[1] It has also been argued that it is inappropriate to invest so much public money on stadia when much of the population lacks basic services and housing.
[2]
References
1. Host nation of 2010 FIFA World Cup™ - South Africa
2. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/regulations/index.html
3. EXCO unveils World Cup programme http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=554858.html
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010™ Regulations - Article 17.6
9. SA faces R8.4bn stadium bill
10. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act, 2006
11. Doubt over South Africa 2010
12. Fifa denies SA may lose 2010 World Cup
13. Beckenbauer issues 2010 warning
14. SA will host 2010 World Cup, says Blatter
15.
FIFA says South Africa 'definitely' will host 2010 World Cup
16. FIFA confirm World Cup back-up plan for 2010
17. Fifa makes 2010 Cup back-up plan
18.
World Cup: 'Pessimists to eat their words'
External links
★
FIFA.com 2010 website
★
International Marketing Council of South Africa 2010 website
★
South Africa 2010 news site
★
FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 fan site
★
Countdown to 2010
★
The fotolog
★
The official 2010 host country website
★
South Africa 2010 Facts and Stadium Informations
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