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The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, an international tournament for football, that is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. It will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by a nation in the Confederation of African Football, leaving the Oceania Football Confederation as the only FIFA Confederation never to have hosted the event.
Contents [hide]
1 Host selection
2 Qualification
3 Group stage tiebreakers
4 Venues
5 Preparations
6 Rumours of tournament being moved
7 Controversies
8 References
9 External links
[edit] Host selection
Main article: FIFA World Cup hosts
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy to rotate the event between football confederations (This policy was later revoked in October of 2007). Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
Egypt
Libya / Tunisia (co-hosting)
Morocco
South Africa
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on May 15, 2004 in Zurich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.[1]
Results:
South Africa, 14 votes
Morocco, 10 votes
Egypt, 0 votes
Tunisia withdrew on May 8, 2004 after joint bidding was not allowed
Libya was rejected: bid did not meet the list of requirements and joint bidding was not allowed
[edit] Qualification
Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically. However, South Africa are the first hosts since 1934 to participate in World Cup qualifiers. This is because the CAF qualifiers will also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, for which South Africa must qualify separately. Since 2002 the defending champions no longer qualify automatically.
The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007.
Region Qualification Countries/Teams
Europe (UEFA) 13 of 53
South America (CONMEBOL) 4 or 5 of 10
North, Central America, and the Caribbean(CONCACAF) 3 or 4 of 35
Asia (AFC) 4 or 5 of 43
Africa (CAF) 6 of 53 (including South Africa as host) South Africa (host)
Oceania (OFC) 0 or 1 of 10
[edit] Group stage tiebreakers
In world football, there are various methods used to separate teams with equal points in a league. For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following system.[2]
In the league format, the ranking in each group is determined as follows:
a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:
d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
[edit] Venues
In 2005, the organizers released a provisional list of thirteen venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria (two), and Rustenburg. This was narrowed down to ten venues[3] which were officially announced on 17 March 2006 by FIFA:
City Stadium Capacity
Johannesburg Soccer City (being upgraded) 104,000
Cape Town Green Point Stadium (being constructed at site of Metropolitan Golf Course) 70,000
Durban Moses Mabidha Stadium (being constructed at site of demolished Kings Park Soccer Stadium) 70,000
Johannesburg Ellis Park Stadium (being upgraded) 65,000
Pretoria Loftus Versfeld Stadium (being upgraded) 50,000
Port Elizabeth Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (under construction) 48,000
Bloemfontein Free State Stadium (being upgraded) 48,000
Nelspruit Mbombela Stadium (under construction) 46,000
Polokwane Peter Mokaba Stadium (being constructed adjacent to existing Peter Mokaba Stadium) 45,000
Rustenburg Royal Bafokeng Stadium (being upgraded) 42,000
DurbanPort ElizabethRustenburgNelspruitPretoriaBloemfonteinJohannesburgCape TownPolokwane
[edit] Preparations
Five new stadiums are to be built for the tournament (three match venues and two practice grounds), and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.[4]
The official 2010 FIFA World Cup poster.In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure, and implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements.[5]
[edit] Rumours of tournament being moved
Rumours have circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.[6][7] Some people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, have expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa’s preparations.[8][6] However, FIFA officials have repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and have stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa".[9][10] Mr. Blatter has stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the 2006 World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.[11][10]
Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continue to circulate about possible relocation of the event.[12] These rumours have been criticised by South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and Africa.[13]
[edit] Controversies
Several non-governmental organisations and poor people's movements have expressed major concern about plans to regulate the prevalence of squatter camp shelters to improve the image of the World Cup venues. Concerns are particularly acute in Durban where local politicians have promised to 'clear the slums by 2010'.[14] It has also been argued that it is inappropriate to invest so much public money on stadia when much of the population lacks basic services and housing.
[edit] References
^ Host nation of 2010 FIFA World Cup™ - South Africa. FIFA (2004-05-15). Retrieved on 2006-01-08.
^ Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010™ Regulations - Article 17.6. FIFA (2007-07).
^ "locations 2010 in Google Earth". Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
^ "SA faces R8.4bn stadium bill", News24, 2006-10-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
^ "2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act, 2006", Republic of South Africa, Minister of Sport and Recreation - Online Government Gazette No. 28593, 2006-03-10. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
^ a b Luke Harding. "Doubt over South Africa 2010", The Guardian, 2006-06-12. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
^ Jermaine Craig. "Fifa denies SA may lose 2010 World Cup", The Star, 2006-07-03. Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
^ "Beckenbauer issues 2010 warning", BBC Sport, 2006-09-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.
^ Sivuyile Mangxamba et. al. "SA will host 2010 World Cup, says Blatter", Pretoria News, 2006-10-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-30.
^ a b Sean Yoong. "FIFA says South Africa 'definitely' will host 2010 World Cup", Associated Press, 2007-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
^ "FIFA confirm World Cup back-up plan for 2010", ESPNsoccernet, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
^ "Fifa makes 2010 Cup back-up plan", BBC Sport, 2007-04-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
^ SAPA. "World Cup: 'Pessimists to eat their words'", IOL Online, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
^ Abahlali Website
[edit] External links
FIFA.com 2010 website
International Marketing Council of South Africa 2010 website
The official 2010 host country website
Preliminary drawcast
FIFA World Cup v • d • e
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International football v • d • e
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Europe: UEFA – European Championship
Non-FIFA: NF-Board – VIVA World Cup
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