The true cost of the World Cup

[Maggot]

Lots of poor South Africans have been relocated to remote area or had their homes demolished, so that visitors don't have to see the poverty.

The SA government denies this of course.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/04/kicked-out-for-the-cup.html

South African shack dwellers movement:

http://www.abahlali.org/node/16

 

[girasol]

I heard that the locals, who were hoping to have food stalls near the venues were pushed out by big corporations who are doing all the catering. (BBC World service have regular reports on this)

Pretty disgusting, but who gives a shit about that when there's money to be made?

 

[Maggot]

I heard that the locals, who were hoping to have food stalls near the venues were pushed out by big corporations who are doing all the catering.

Pretty disgusting, but who gives a shit about that when there's money to be made?

True. Fifa are demanding a 'Commercial exclusion zone' around the stadiums for their corporate sponsors.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Disgraceful isn't it. There seem to be reports of this every Olympics/World Cup - iirc Barcelona were particularly bad when they had the Olympics, they cleared out whole areas.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

That's South Africa for ya.

 

[Rollem]

That's South Africa for ya.

no, not just south africa. as already stated Barcelona rounded up al the undesirables off their streets and shipped them to the cities outskirts for the duration of the olympics - Atlanta did the same, and no doubt London will have some special smokescreens made to hide our less majestic sights

 

[TrippyLondoner]

no, not just south africa. as already stated Barcelona rounded up al the undesirables off their streets and shipped them to the cities outskirts for the duration of the olympics - Atlanta did the same, and no doubt London will have some special smokescreens made to hide our less majestic sights

true.

 

[not-bono-ever]

with up to about $3B in revenue expected from the world cup, you have expect the "partners" of FIFA to get priority of over a bunch of unwashed slum dwellers

 

[Rollem]

must

try

harder

 

[internetstalker]

Lots of poor South Africans have been relocated to remote area or had their homes demolished, so that visitors don't have to see the poverty.

But even by doing ^^this

visitors would still see the poverty

ie directly next to the airport in cape town are a number of townships, as soon as you get off the plane you're greeted with the realisation the=at SA is a 3rd world country

come to think of it townships are everywhere

 

[Stibs]

Manchester too, before the Commonwealth Games

 

[Diamond]

But does the benefit outweigh the cost?

It's impossible to say at the moment and plenty of cities/nations have hosted major sporting events that have been an overall drain on their purse and venue but from time to time an olympics or a world cup can be a catalyst for positive change.

South Africa would appear to be a good candidate for this.

 

[Rollem]

But does the benefit outweigh the cost?

It's impossible to say at the moment and plenty of cities/nations have hosted major sporting events that have been an overall drain on their purse and venue but from time to time an olympics or a world cup can be a catalyst for positive change.

South Africa would appear to be a good candidate for this.

isn't that what they said about them hosting the rugby world cup? did that act as a real catalyst for change?

do events of this scale ever help make a positive change, i mean a real change? if so which ones did?

who will be using the south african stadia after the world cup? what will happen to them, can they be maintained to the standard required to keep them a viable sporting venue for all sections of the community, and if so at what cost? will smaller, grass roots sporting projects lose out on funding in order to keep these massive 60,000+ seaters going?

questions, questions, and i have no answers

 

[not-bono-ever]

Sadly, Im not sure whether the immediate benefits, like the stadia & grass roots will be maintaned long term - I would like to think so, bu SA has alot of problems & not much cash

In terms of PR - if this WC goes well, then the long term economic benefits from a higher / better profile could be huge

 

[Diamond]

isn't that what they said about them hosting the rugby world cup? did that act as a real catalyst for change?

do events of this scale ever help make a positive change, i mean a real change? if so which ones did?

who will be using the south african stadia after the world cup? what will happen to them, can they be maintained to the standard required to keep them a viable sporting venue for all sections of the community, and if so at what cost? will smaller, grass roots sporting projects lose out on funding in order to keep these massive 60,000+ seaters going?

questions, questions, and i have no answers

Well you can make a pretty good argument for the Barcelona Olympics and the South African rugby world cup.

It's a pity that Discordia appears to have buggered off somewhere else. I'm sure he'd be able to offer some interesting insights on both this football world cup and that rugby one.

 

[Rollem]

Well you can make a pretty good argument for the Barcelona Olympics

can you? coz having studied it for my degree, all i could see that barcelona got out of it was a brand spanking new road sytem. the olympic village - which was billed as to be used for a mix of private and social housing - turned into a ghost town with only the penthouses sold....the olympic stadia was rarely used, and the new improved harbour only viable for use by the mega swanky

it did bring in more tourism to barcelona though, with the city now one of the top mini break destinations, is that the real catalyst of change?

 

[butchersapron]

Well you can make a pretty good argument for the Barcelona Olympics and the South African rugby world cup.

Go on then. I bet you can't.

 

[drivingmecrazy]

This is just typical of the way things are done these days. No surprises

 

[Brixton Hatter]

FIFA are making billions from the World Cup - they are rich as f*ck. Cheapest tickets are around £50 each. But what do they do with all the money? SA had to build and revamp all the stadiums. FIFA just turn up with the corporate sponsors and walk away with a big bunch of cash.

I for one will be staying away from all the fucking McDonalds and Coca-Cola outlets. I think it's gonna be much more interesting to explore the culinary delights of local Cape Town...