The Impacts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Carol Pazos

November 29, 2019

Title image from Monkeyland

A Brief History

Map illustrating various cities in which the FIFA World Cup has been held from borrowed from 1982-2022. Map borrowed from user csaylor01.

FIFA World Cup Cities Map

What event has more viewership than the Olympic Games. Any guesses? That’s right, I’m talking about the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup is a sporting event held every 4 years that determines the soccer champion of the world. First proposed by frenchman, Jules Rimet, former President of FIFA, the first World Cup final was viewed by 60 thousand people in an exciting match between Uruguay and Argentina (“JULES RIMET AND THE BIRTH OF THE WORLD CUP.”). Since it first launched, HISTORY.com states that “we’ve had 20 World Cups, 16 hosts, 8 winners, 2 trophies, 516 games, 2,377 goals, 169 red cards and countless moments of magic” (“JULES RIMET AND THE BIRTH OF THE WORLD CUP.”). However, during that time, we’ve also experienced significant hardships following the aftermath of hosting World Cups -- and this is a negative side of FIFA World Cup History that is rarely acknowledged.

Some news articles have started to highlight the negative impacts on certain countries after hosting the World Cup including but not limited to: financial repurcussions, sex trafficking, unsustainable tourism, and unsustainable government spending. The country that has been said to face the most drawbacks is 2010 FIFA World Cup host, South Africa.

Immediate Next Steps

History is Made

In 2004, South Africa was awarded the bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup-- the first African country to do so. This was a significant event in sporting history considering how in September 1961, South Africa was suspended from international soccer and other sporting events following the country’s apartheid regime (Asokan). South Africa rejoined FIFA in 1992, once apartheid was dismantled (Asokan).

Image from Daily Maverick

Need to Get Ready

In preparation for the momentous event, the South African government invested a lot of time and money into various resources. Some of the initiatives pursued included: development of seven transfrontier conservation areas (TCAs), upgrading road networks, improved telecommunications, amongst others (“2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.” 4). In a document detailing the South African government’s responsibilities, it states that the government hopes that by hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup there will “ faster economic growth and the achievement of development goals (“2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.” 7).

Image from Al Jazeera Media Network

Concerns are Raised

While an ambitious goal to reach, the South African government’s actions have been criticized by many as being counterintuitive to the current needs of its people. Specifically, “critics expressed concerns about the government spending hundreds of millions of euro to hold such an extravagant event when poverty is rampant and social expenditure is a huge priority for the state” (Corcoran).

Image from The Irish Times, Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Financial Impacts

Overview

Regardless of the criticism, the South African government pushed its initiatives while in retrospect they acknowledge that “apart from the immediate optimism and sense of togetherness the [World Cup] generated and the positive rebranding the country received, it would take time for more tangible benefits to trickle down and affect ordinary South Africans” (Corcoran). It’s now been 9 years since the World Cup was held there, and South Africa is still trying to materialize its investment.

Some of the more outstanding financial repercussions include “about €2.5 billion of taxpayers’ money [being] spent on new stadiums, renovating airports, upgrading roads, and the continent’s first high-speed public railway” with “nine [out of the ten stadiums being] in the red, unable to attract enough events to pay their way” (Corcoran).

Student generated story map

Cape Town Stadium

Image from Wikipedia by user Arne muesler

Moses Mabhida Stadium

Image from Youtube by user Rakesh Morar

Conclusion

Now, you may be thinking… but wouldn’t the influx of crowds help the South African government break even? Well, in a data analysis study conducted by du Plessis and Maennig, they concluded that the “the economic impact of international tourist arrivals during a soccer World Cup such as the 2010 tournament in South Africa, is considerably smaller, at least in the short run, than is widely expected prior to the event” (Maennig and du Plessis 20). They came to this conclusion after finding that there wasn’t a significant increase in the number of tourists based on hotel occupancy and flight data (Maennig and du Plessis 9). Additionally, the authors note that there was a considerable “crowding-out” effect which means that “normal” tourists leave the area due to increased noise, traffic jams, and other disturbances (Maennig and du Plessis 9). In the case of South Africa, the “normal” tourists include those who hunt in South Africa. The decrease in hunting tourists and increase in World Cup tourists made for an insignificant net gain in tourism for South Africa.

Image from Le Point

Humanitarian Impacts

Overview

Aside from financial repercussions, the 2010 South Africa World Cup also faced other humanitarian controversies including the fear of increased human trafficking. In South Africa where human trafficking is rampant, critics expressed concern that the situation will only be exacerbated during the World Cup. As noted by Janine Hicks, “organized crime syndicates take advantage of big events such as international sporting events to further their own ends” (Hicks 106).

Image from News Deeply by AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

Criticism

However, the criticism received was xenophobic in nature and there was no viable data foreshadowing an increase human trafficking in South Africa. In fact, “sex workers... used the publicity around the [2010 World Cup] to argue for the legalisation of sex work and the protection of sex workers’ human rights” (Bonthuys 11). But their efforts were overshadowed in the media with headlines claiming that “40,000 foreign women would be trafficked into the country for sex work, and claims that many children would be abducted or trafficked for the same purposes” (Bonthuys 11).

Image from AS by Reuters/Rogan Ward

The Misunderstanding

Specifically, these claims were being made against “working class African people who were perceived as illegal migrants” (Bonthuys 12). Since these narratives prevailed, they were used as justification “for the persecution of sex workers in Cape Town” (Bonthuys 12). Here, the issue of sex becomes convulted. While sex workers engage in sex tourism and are thus, consenting (Carrier-Moisan)-- human trafficking is an entirely different thing that deprives victims of consent. To attack sex workers in light of human trafficking panic is demeaning to sex workers and not the approporate way to handle the situation. In fact, as Carrier-Moisan notes of sex workers in Brazil, the women combine sexualization along with feminity and respecatbility as a means of moving up the social and economic ladder (Carrier-Moisan). Yet, stereotyping and misundersatnding sex workers is a theme that is seen from time to time. For example, Simoni illustrates how sex workers in Cuba are often stereotyped as “caliente” which gets at the “hot” character of Cuban people. Additionally, men touring Cuba use love to deceive Cuban women into having sex” (Carrier-Moisan). As sex workers continue to be misunderstood globally, there has been limited efforts to protect them.

Image from Daily Mail by Andre Forget/I-Images

Conclusion

For that reason, “although practical and policy matters around the legalisation of sex work were reported in the context of the World Cup, the attitude towards sex workers remained largely negative” (Bonthuys 19) with “human rights of sex workers [being] seldom discussed, and [having them] usually portrayed either as victims or opportunists who, like pimps and traffickers, sought to make money from unsuspecting tourists” (Bonthuys 19).

This contrasts efforts in Germany, who hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2006. Their government strategizied to eliminate the potential of human trafficking by promoting two campaigns: Prosecution, prevention, and protection; and Rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration (Hicks 106). While the case in South Africa is unfortunate, there is hope that legislation will change.

Image from The Asia Foundation

Food for Thought

Ultimately, what the 2010 FIFA World Cup challenges is the consideration for sustainable development. Although this concept is brought up by Lyon et al. with regard to the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve in South Africa, I believe that a lot of the principles can be applied more generally and specifically in the case of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. For starters, within the 2010 FIFA World Cup narrative, there also exists 4 key stakeholders (tourists, residents, entrepreneurs, local government/management officials) and discourse regarding the 4 interrelated themes of sustainable development (futurity, the environment, public participation, and equity). Although not covered in the greater story map, it would be unwise to ignore the power dynamics that exist between FIFA, the South African government, and South African residents and how those dynamics shaped a lot of the unsustainable decisions that took place.

In fact, we need to keep all of this in mind and brace ourselves for the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will bring the event here, to the United States, in conjunction with Mexico and Canada. As hosts, we might want to prepare a set guidelines, campaigns, and expectations that we wish to communicate to other key stakeholders.

Key Words (not in order)

sustainable development

sex tourism

stereotype

caliente tourism/stereotype

stakeholders

hunting tourism

Works Cited

2010 Communication Project Management Unit Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). “2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.” 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, 2010 Communication Project Management Unit Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). www.gcis.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/resourcecentre/multimedia/sa2010_govprep.pdf.

Asokan, Shyamantha. “Defining Moment: South Africa Is Suspended from World Football, September 1961.” Financial Times, Financial Times, 22 Aug. 209AD, www.ft.com/content/bfdc8150-8c57-11de-b14f-00144feabdc0.

Bonthuys, Elsje. “The 2010 Football World Cup and the Regulation of Sex Work in South Africa.” Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 38, no. 1, 17 Jan. 2012, pp. 11–29., doi:10.1080/03057070.2012.642723.

Carrier-Moisan, Marie-Eve. “‘Putting Femininity to Work’: Negotiating Hypersexuality and Respectability in Sex Tourism, Brazil.” Sexualities, vol. 18, no. 4, 2015, pp. 499–518., doi:10.1177/1363460714550902.

Corcoran, Bill. “Tangible Effects of 2010 World Cup Not Equal for All South Africans.” The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 23 June 2014, www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/tangible-effects-of-2010-world-cup-not-equal-for-all-south-africans-1.1841415.

Hicks, Janine. “A Gendered Response to the 2010 World Cup: Insights from the South African Commission for Gender Equality.” JSTOR, Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 2010, www.jstor.org/stable/27917371.

“JULES RIMET AND THE BIRTH OF THE WORLD CUP.” History TV, AETN UK, www.history.co.uk/article/jules-rimet-and-the-birth-of-the-world-cup.

Lyon, Andrew, et al. “Are We Any Closer to Sustainable Development? Listening to Active Stakeholder Discourses of Tourism Development in the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, South Africa.” Tourism Management, vol. 61, 24 Feb. 2017, pp. 234–247., doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2017.01.010.

Maennig, Wolfgang, and Stan A. Du Plessis. “The 2010 World Cup High-Frequency Data Economics: Effects on International Awareness and (Self-Defeating) Tourism.” SSRN Electronic Journal, vol. 37, Aug. 2010, pp. 1–26., doi:10.2139/ssrn.1855575.

Simoni, Valerio. “Intimate Stereotypes: The Vicissitudes of Being ‘Caliente’ in Touristic Cuba.” Civilisations, vol. 62, no. 1/2, 31 Dec. 2013, pp. 181–198., doi:10.4000/civilisations.3320.

Tham, Jia Vern. “Here's What Happened To Football Stadiums After Hosting World Cup Matches.” SAYS, Media Prima Group, 30 June 2018, says.com/my/sports/here-s-what-happened-to-stadiums-after-world-cup-matches.