South Africans, and all Africans, can be proud of hosting the 2010 World Cup soccer championship. The eyes of the world will be turned to sports and fellowship on a continent usually associated in the popular imagination with dictators and blood diamonds, grinding poverty and heinous civil wars. But as suggested by the subtitle of a new documentary, World Cup Soccer in Africa: Who Really Wins? (out on DVD), a troubling undercurrent runs beneath the whooping and flag waving of the fans.
Many of the problems underlined in Who Really Wins are shared by the host cities or countries of Olympic games; there are even parallels with the extortionate practices of major league teams in the U.S., forcing states and cities to foot the bill for new stadiums. FIFA, the international soccer federation, will devour the lion’s share of World Cup profit from television rights and corporate sponsors. Local elites with ties to the ruling African National Congress will pocket some of the proceeds. The crumbs will fall into the hands of the poor through temporary construction jobs and tourist revenue.
Added to the financial disparity in a country where the chasm between rich and poor has only widened since the racist apartheid regime gave way to a multi-racial democracy is the problem of resources diverted from health, housing and education into the construction of Olympic-scale facilities that will seldom be used after the games are over. Schools were actually torn down to make way for stadium construction. The white minority government has been replaced by a rainbow regime eager to erect white elephants.
None of this should dampen the enthusiasm of soccer fans watching the world-class athletic prowess of World Cup. But it’s worth remembering that just beyond reach of television cameras are vast slums of shacks lacking running water and electricity.
