WAS it all worth it? Six years after SA hosted the 2010 soccer World Cup, this remains a difficult question to answer.It was, on the face of it, a no-brainer. SA got to be the centre of global attention, putting on a major event that ran efficiently, one that was characterised by wonderful hospitality and that enhanced our reputation as a tourist destination.It was also an exercise in nation-building, as South Africans pulled together to “prove the Afro-pessimists wrong” by staging a world-class event.But in order for all of this to occur, a number of heady sacrifices had to be made, some financial, some ethical and some just plain illegal.In my book, The Big Fix — How South Africa Stole the World Cup, I attempt, in some detail, to go into the problems that surrounded the staging of the event.What struck me was how the national impulse to project success and to prove that we could do it resulted in a number of serious issues being buried in a deluge of patriotic fervour.The first ca...
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