Western attacks on Qatar 2022 is similar to what South Africa faced - 2010 World Cup chief Jordaan
Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, says the unsavoury attacks from the Western media directed at Qatar's clinching of the rights to host the tournament in 2022 is similar to what his country faced when they hosted event five years ago.
Jordaan now president of the South African Football Association, drew parallels with Qatar's plans for 2022 and the first edition of the finals tournament on the African continent in 2010.
Like Qatar, Jordaan said that South Africa also received a lot pre-tournament criticism: "A lot of attacks came from Afro-pessimists, but we were going to show the world that there was no difference in being African and being world class.
The SAFA boss says the attack Qatar has faced particularly in the Western media and football circles is just what his country faced and advised that the Asian country must be prepared to face further attacks.
"Now Qatar is pushing the 2022 event as a regional event, as one for the Middle East and North Africa. They must be ready for those challenges and it will be difficult," he said.
For Jordaan the tournament in South Africa was one for all of Africa. "What's almost the same with South Africa is that we declared our tournament a continental event instead of a national one," Jordaan said.
"We wanted an African World Cup, not only a South African World Cup, and we had people telling us to delink it and make it a nationwide tournament – not a continental one. Their argument was due to the negative stereotype of Africa, because if you say it's an African World Cup the world will say look,things won't work, nothing good comes from Africa, disease, wars, coups, all of these negative images...and we said no, it's going to be an African World Cup and it's going to be world class."
Turning to the home support, Jordaan said it is important to keep domestic fans engaged to keep the tournament atmosphere positive. He said that few expected South Africa to make it far in the 2010 competition but because the World Cup was a viewed as continental tournament, fans moved their support on to other African teams as well.
"When Ghana was having a good run in the second round and eventually made it to the quarterfinals, instead of cheering for our team, the Bafana Bafana, we started to cheer for Baghana Baghana. We thought that in order to sustain the momentum of support in the stands, we need to get continental support too. I think this would work for Qatar and the Middle East too."
Jordaan described the World Cup finals in South Africa as "an amazing experience for a nation to see its team being paraded as one of the best in the world. It's an experience you can only live through. It's the same experience for hosting. For the people of the country it lifts them, because only the best in the world are now coming to the country, and you are their host. It was an emotional and unbelievable experience and a very special moment for our people, as it will be for the people of Qatar."
Readers Comment
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edem
9 years ago
Corrupt FIFA, Qatar won the bid to host via corruption and payola. They have terrible women and human rights. No one wants to watch the world cup in the winter months, with no beer, and women covered from head to toe. This fool needs to keep his name far away from Qatar and the impending failure that is soon to happen.
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joe
9 years ago
No. I did not protest the 2010 world cup in South Africa an neither did many amongst my fellow Europeans. The opposition towards Qatar 2022 is massive and can not be compared to the little bits of isolated critizism directed at South Africa by a few media outlets. Qatar is critizised because of slave labour, disrupting the domestic leagues of half the world, proven corruption within the bidding process, sharia restrictions on fans and turning to a winter world cup eventhough they won the bid for a summer world cup. I do not care who hosts the world cup. The entire point of it is that everyone should be able to host it. But whoever wants to host the world cup should in their bid fairly, build it fairly and host a tournament celebrating the diversity that the world cup is about. Qatar is not doing and has not done any of these. Besides that, Qatar arrogantly proclaiming to represent the entire middle east is disgusting. They have zero football legacy and heritage. Egypt as host or an Algeria/Tunisia cohost should have been the first in the middle east. At least those 3 have a football history.
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King Kong
9 years ago
South Africa was so different. They did not have to move the matches to Winter in Northern hemisphere. Boycott this 2022 Qatar World Cup for breaching of human rights (cultural and during construction), corruption (because a UEFA head and a FIFA Exco member promised the emirates to move the event to winter before the votes), and waste of global resources (because the stadia are to be dismantled or dis-assembled after just one month of usage).
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