Who's going to win the World Cup?
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Last Thursday's event 'Who's going to win the World Cup?' drew in over a hundred people eager to discuss the social, political and economic impacts of the World Cup on South Africa. |
17 June 2010 - Who's going to win the World Cup?
War on Want's event 'Who's going to win the World Cup?' last Thursday drew in over a hundred people eager to discuss the social, political and economic impacts of the World Cup on South Africa. According to the media hype the World Cup is a great opportunity for progress within the host nation and even across the continent yet Thursday night's debate showed a different story.
The stage was set by Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing who has just produced a damning report on the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Highlighting the high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality in South Africa, Mr Kothari explained that the host country cannot afford the World Cup, and that such events do not even deliver the benefits promised. This backdrop framed the discussions by two South Africans - Ashraf Cassiem and Phineas Malapela representatives from War on Want's grassroots partners, the Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Anti-Privatisation Forum. They discussed the disastrous impact the World Cup is having on their communities, through evictions, increasingly diminishing access to public services such as water and electricity, and the draconian conditions FIFA enforces on host cities.
Andrew Jennings, a reporter who bares the special title of being the only journalist banned from Sepp Blatter's press conferences, highlighted that the corruption and detrimental impact experienced by South Africa is not specific to this World Cup, but a feature of how the games operate. With London due to hold a mega-event of its own – the 2012 Olympics – this leads to the question of what hosting a mega-event may mean for London. This was answered by Martin Slavin, a member of Games Monitor, who argued that the Olympics have led to vast expense with little justified reward. The debate ended with Caroline Elliot, Programmes Officer at War on Want, returning to the focal point of the discussion – who is going to win the world cup? The panel and audience agreed that it is definitely not the poor in South Africa.
Together with our partners, War on Want fights against the destructive impacts of mega-sporting events, such as the World Cup. These are all too often at the expense of poor communities within the host nation. Join our battle and take action today.
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