South Africa Planning for 2010 Soccer World Cup Moves Into Top Gear

By Highway Africa News Agency
In anticipation of the 2010 and 2014 Soccer World Cups, the South African government has promised the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) a state-of the art technology and capital driven World Cup. Improvements that will make the World Cup a successful one include the availability of: -enough radio bandwidth frequency spectrum -improvement in access to broadcast coverage of rural areas -ensure excellent project management skills to manage complex and large productions -availability of adequate bandwidth for international demand on various platforms -upgrading of facilities and technology -funding implications -multiple language delivery -convergence and its implications for 2010

According to international football analysts the 2010 World Cup could be used to determine the readiness of the African continent to host international events of such magnitude, considering that it is the first time in the history of FIFA that the World Cup will be held on the African continent. Furthermore, the 2010 World Cup could be a marketing opportunity for the African continent to improve Africa 's image abroad.

Central to a successful world cup is the availability of satellite and fibre optic communications facilities for live broadcasts. The availability of broadband Internet facilities in and around FIFA's hotel facilities can break or boost Africa 's chances to host another world cup again. So that at stake is not the image of South Africa alone but that of the African continent and its peoples.

Meetings with FIFA's broadcasting team to determine what other role the SABC will play during the world cup are going on and training of SABC staffers in running a successful soccer event is also taking place.

However, the delivery of the SABC's HDTV infrastructure is still to be made, and the SABC is also engaged in assessing the involvement of other local and African broadcasters in the broadcasting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.