The 2010 Football World Cup as a Political Construct: The Challenge of Making Good on an African Promise

Mega-events as a Response to Poverty Reduction: The 2010 FIFA World Cup and its Urban Development Implications

“…Yet evidence suggests that the construction of stadiums in Japan, associated with the 2002 co-hosted World Cup with Korea, may rather have been "steroids, bloating rather than strengthening the economy" (McCormack, cited in Horne 2004:1242. The event failed to live up to the organisers' expectations (Cornelissen and Swart 2006). In addition, similarly to the aftereffects of the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998, stadium maintenance costs continue to be borne by tax payers.…”

“…While 2010 does offer South Africa the opportunity to deliver on the social and political promises associated with its mega-event strategy, it will be a vast challenge to balance investment with the socio-economic needs of the populace (Cornelissen and Swart 2006). Furthermore, as Bob (2004:1322) indicate (in the context of the failed Cape Town Olympic bid) it "is doubtful whether the global intervention promise of alleviating the poverty trap via the hosting of mega-events in South Africa will be realised".…”

“…Rhetoric by the Gauteng Premier, Mbhazima Shilowa (cited in Gonzalez 2007:2), supports the notion that the South African "vision remains that of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014, and the 2010 World Cup provides an opportunity to fast-track development towards attainment of this vision". Certainly, the notion of a developmental agenda has become a key feature of South Africa's mega-event strategy (Cornelissen 2004a(Cornelissen , 2004b(Cornelissen , 2005Cornelissen and Swart 2006;Swart and Bob 2004). Hiller (1998Hiller ( , 2000 highlights the kind of development agendas associated with bidding for mega-events in the South African context.…”

“…Mega-events have become prominent in the South African context due to the perceived benefits of nation building, international profiling and economic and developmental gains (Cornelissen and Swart 2006;Cornelissen 2004bCornelissen , 2005Cornelissen , 2007. Rhetoric by the Gauteng Premier, Mbhazima Shilowa (cited in Gonzalez 2007:2), supports the notion that the South African "vision remains that of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014, and the 2010 World Cup provides an opportunity to fast-track development towards attainment of this vision".…”

Social leveraging of the 2010 Olympic Games: ‘sustainability’ in a City of Vancouver initiative

“…According to regime theory, winning bids to host mega-events enables cities to differentiate themselves visually and experientially from other cities and to harness economic flows by drawing in corporate investment and leveraging scarce resources from governments (Hiller, 2000). Following the economic success of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, there has been a frenzy where cities and countries engage in inter-city competitions in an attempt to win bids and get on to what has been referred to as the mega-event circuit (Cornelissen & Swart, 2006) -a circuit that is supposed to generate investments within the host city.…”