FIFA is back! After a successful 18th edition of the football's biggest international event, it's time for Africa! South Africa, also called the Rainbow nation, is the host country for the 19th FIFA World Cup. Starting June 11th, the focus would be on South Africa, both on and off the field. Here's a closer look at the country's preparations.
19th FIFA World Cup 2010 will feature 64 matches in all and these have been staged in ten different venues in nine different cities across the length and breadth of the beautiful Rainbow nation. In fact, this is the first time that an African country is hosting the World Cup.
The venues for the matches are Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Rustenburg, Pretoria and two different stadiums at Johannesburg. The preparations for this were started long back. Half the stadiums at the venues were built from scratch and other five were upgraded. The opening and the grand finale of the tournament have been staged at Johannesburg soccer Venue.
In terms of audience turnout and television viewership, FIFA is indeed one of the most closely followed sporting events around the globe. Irrespective of the fact whether the native country plays or not, the football World Cup has viewers drawn from all corners of world. This time around, the expected audience turnout is estimated to be close to 600 000. According to the estimated figures, FIFA 2010 is expected to leave gross impact of R93 billion on the host country.
However, this would not be a first for South Africa. The country has been hosts to a wide range of many major global sporting events in the recent past. As hosts, South Africa has successfully managed the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, A1 Grand Prix in 2006, the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League and also FIFA Confederations Cup in June last year. With an exceptional performance in these, the Rainbow nation has set high standards for itself and the country promises to make every effort to make it a grand success.
Next join us at http://2010worldcupfootball.info/ for the latest news and daily game reviews of the 2010 south Africa world cup.
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