In 2010, for the first time ever, South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup. As is the case whenever a country is hosting a major sporting event, there is a great deal of preparation involved.
South Africa asked to be considered for the opportunity to host the 2010 WorldCup Betting event after the decision was made to rotate the World Cup from one country to the next in order to provide more fans with an opportunity to attend the event. South Africa was one of five African countries who bid on the opportunity to host the event. South Africa learned that their bid was accepted on May 15, 2004, giving South Africa six years to prepare for the event.
Hosting events like the 2010 World Cup is a really big deal. It provides a country with several different opportunities to advertise itself and to boost its economy. Hosting the World Cup has led to the creation of more than 159,000 jobs.
In addition to putting citizens to work, South Africa hopes that people will be so impressed with the country while they watch the matches on their televisions that they will start to seriously consider visiting the country the next time they go on vacation. Since the eyes of the world will be focused on South Africa during June, the country is determined to put its best foot forward.
The final advantage to hosting the 2010 World Cup is that South Africa’s soccer team was granted one of the 32 slots.
Since South Africa is use to being the center of attention, preparing for the 2010 World Cup is easier for them, than it would be for a country that has never hosted as world wide sporting event. This will be the sixth time South Africa has hosted a sports World Cup. The first time they hosted a major event was the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the last time was in 2006 when South Africa hosted A1 GP World Cup’s only street race. The advantage to hosting so many important sporting events is that South Africa has solid idea of what to expect when the soccer teams and fans start to arrive in June
Getting ready for an event like the 2010 World Cup isn’t cheap. By the time the event roles around in June and estimated $7 billion dollars will have been spent on preparation for the event. The money was used to renovate the 10 stadiums that will be used for the World Cup. In addition to making sure that the event facilities are completely modernized, South Africa also took a hard look at their roads and railway system and made improvements wherever problems were anticipated. The Johannesburg International Airport, where most of the soccer fans are expected to arrive and exit the country, has been connected to Pretoria by a high speed railway system that is going to make travel easier and faster to travel during the event.
While the government is preparing the city for the event, hotels and restaurant owners are making their own preparations. They are hiring extra employees and stocking up on supplies.