AFRICA BECAME A CENTRE FOR TOURISM AND TRADE AFTER 2010 WORLD CUP – DANNY JORDAN
Danny Jordan, the man who led the organizing committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, said the tournament put an end to pessimism and doubts about the quality of Africa and helped transform the African continent from “hopeless to hopeful”.
Ten years after the event, Jordan told AFP the World improved Africa and led to the overall growth of the continent’s capacity.
Recall that in 2004 when former FIFA president, Joseph Sepp Blatter announced South Africa would be the 2010 host, it had already been a 100 years since the football organization was formed.
The 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman said South Africa embarked on a six-year journey to deliver the required infrastructure including rail, rapid-transport systems, roads and freeways, as well as upgrading broadcast and telecommunication systems that came at a 33 billion ran tag ($1.9Bn).
“After 2010, Africa became a destination for tourism, for investment for trade,” Jordan told reporters.
Jordan said ten of the stadiums that hosted the 64 matches during the month-long tournament, five were built from scratch, and five received upgrades so they could collectively seat more than half-a-million spectators.
He added the stadiums are now used by football and rugby teams in the South African League.
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