2010 FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010

Tournament Details:
Host country - South Africa
Dates - 11 June to 11 July
Teams - 32 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s) - 10 (in 9 host cities)


The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa beat Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. This decision left the Oceania Football Confederation as the only confederation yet to host the FIFA World Cup. Italy are the defending champions. The draw for the finals took place on 4 December 2009 in Cape Town.

Host Selection:

Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a new policy to rotate the event among football confederations (which was later abandoned in October 2007). Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:

Egypt

Libya / Tunisia (co-hosting)

Morocco

South Africa

Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.

After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.

Qualification:

As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa did participate in World Cup qualifiers because the CAF qualifiers also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. They were the first host since 1934 to participate in preliminary qualifying. As happened in the previous tournament, the defending champions were not given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification.

The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007.

Prize money and Club payments:

The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million, a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament.Before the tournament, each participating team would receive $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:

$9 million - Round of 16

$18 million - Quarter-finals

$20 million - Semi-finals

$24 million - Runners up

$30 million - Winners

In a first for the World Cup, there would also be payments made by FIFA to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This would see a total of €26 million being paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over €1,000 per player per day.

This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, such as that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morroco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup

Preparations:

The Lukasrand Tower in Pretoria sporting a football in anticipation of the world cupFive new stadiums have been built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues are to be upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.

In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa is also planning to improve its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya.Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.

The country is also going to implement special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements,including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.

The readiness of this African nation to host one of the biggest events in a sports that is worshiped by millions has received positive response from FIFA. FIFA has rated the readiness of South Africa at eight on a scale of 10  with the hope that they would be completely ready before the matches actually start.

Construction Strike:

70,000 construction workers who were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid – some receiving as little as R40 (£3.11) a week. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be ready.

Transportation:

Major road networks have been improved to cater for the expected influx of people coming to the country who will be traveling to and fro match stadiums. The Gautrain (underground rail network) will be complete in time for the opening game, but only limited lengths of the route.

Major metros have also updated their current public bus systems to cater for visitors. Websites such as Vaya Nathi have been created for host city visitors to view bus route information in host cities.

Legacy:

The following stadiums have all been upgraded to meet FIFA specification as a lasting legacy of the World Cup.

Cecil Payne Stadium

Dobsonville Stadium

Gelvandale Stadium

Giant Stadium

HM Pitje Stadium

King Zwelithini Stadium

Olympia Park Stadium

Orlando Stadium

Princess Magogo Stadium

Rabie Ridge Stadium

Rand Stadium

Ruimsig Stadium

Seisa Ramabodu Stadium

Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium

Super Stadium

Relocation Rumours:

Fans celebrating the forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa (Camps Bay, Cape Town)During 2006 to 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country.Some people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations.However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, and stated that the event will not be moved, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter re-iterating that "Plan A... Plan B... Plan C is that the 2010 World Cup will be staged in South Africa".Blatter stated that there is a contingency plan to hold the World Cup elsewhere but only in the event of a natural catastrophe, and that the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany also had a similar contingency plan.

Despite reassurances by FIFA that the event would only be moved in the case of natural catastrophe, rumours continued to circulate about possible relocation of the event.These rumours were criticised by South Africa's Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, saying that some have targeted the event to reflect their persistent negativity towards South Africa and Africa.

Controversies:

As with many 'hallmark events' throughout the world,the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been connected to evictions which many claim are meant to 'beautify the city', impress visiting tourists, and hide shackdwellers. On 14 May 2009, Durban-based shack-dwellers took the KwaZulu-Natal government to court over their controversial Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, meant to eliminate slums in South Africa and put homeless shackdwellers in transit camps in time for the 2010 World Cup.They have gained a lot of publicity for their efforts even in the international media.

Another prominent controversy surrounding preparations for the World Cup is the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town, which plans to remove over 20,000 residents from Joe Slovo Informal Settlement along the busy N2 Freeway and build rental flats and bond houses in its place in time for the 2010 World Cup.The residents would be moved to the poverty stricken Delft township on the outskirts of the city and out of sight from the N2 Freeway.There has been particular concern about forced removals to the Blikkiesdorp camp in Delft and that, in Durban, children are being forcibly removed from the city centre.

In July 2009, South Africa was hit with rolling protests by poor communities who demanded access to basic services, jobs, adequate housing and the democratisation of service delivery. These protests have been linked to the World Cup as protesters complain that public funds are being diverted away from social issues to build stadiums and upgrade airports.Fears have been expressed that the growing protests by shack dwellers could result in the tournament being disrupted. Some grassroots social movements have called for a boycott of the event.

Blikkiesdorp:

Blikkiesdorp has become well-known for its high crime rate, its substandard living conditions, and its extremely hot or cold, windy and sandy living environment.NGOs, international human rights organisations, and the Anti-Eviction Campaign have publicly criticised the conditions in Blikkiesdorp and how they say it is used to reinforce the eviction of poor families especially to make way for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.Residents have also threatened to burn down Blikkiesdorp before the World Cup begins because of the bad conditions in the settlement.

FIFA:Crime and Security:

Tournament organiser Danny Jordaan dismissed concerns that the terrorist attack on the Togo national team which took place in Angola in January 2010, had any relevance to the security arrangements for the World Cup.

South Africa and others have expressed concerns that the World Cup will stimulate and be a boon to the illicit sex trade.

Non-FIFA events:

In November 2009 it was reported that a rugby Test match between the Springboks and France scheduled to take place in Cape Town on the 12th June 2010 would be moved to Europe due to FIFA regulations banning other sport events in host cities during the time of the World Cup.After negotiations between the South African Rugby Union and members of the local organising committee, it was announced that the Test will be allowed to take place in Cape Town on the originally scheduled date because no World Cup match is to be played in Cape Town on that day, and the Test will be played at Newlands, which is not a World Cup venue.

FIFA Trademarks:

Kulula.com were ordered by FIFA it to withdraw an advertisement that it claimed infringed on their trademarks. The advert, titled "The unofficial carrier of the you-know-what", features soccer balls, vuvuzelas and the National Flag of South Africa which FIFA claims when used in conjunction with each other constitutes a infringement of its trademarks. Kulula.com disputed FIFA's claim, but later announced that they would withdraw the specific advert whilst continuing with the advertisement campaign.

Filming FIFA:

Sony technology will be used to film the games. According to FIFA up to 25 of the games will be captured using 3D cameras.It will be supplying its flagship HDC-1500 cameras as well as its new HDC-P1 unit, a compact, point-of-view (POV)-type camera with a 2/3-inch lens. The 3D games will be produced for FIFA by Host Broadcast Services.

FIFA Final Draw:


The FIFA Organising Committee approved the procedure for the Final Draw on 2 December 2009. The seeding was based on the October 2009 FIFA World Ranking and seven squads joined hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the Final Draw. The committee also approved the composition of the other pots as well as the procedure for the final draw. Pot 2 was composed of teams from Asia, Oceania, and North and Central America and the Caribbean. Pot 3 included teams from Africa and South America. Pot 4 had the remaining European teams.

Hosts South Africa was automatically positioned as A1; the other seeded teams were drawn into the other groups B–H, but were always in position 1 of their group. Groups were drawn from A to H and the positions in the group were drawn for Pots 2 to 4. Geographical criteria also were respected, meaning that no two teams from the same confederation were drawn in the same group (except European teams, where a maximum of two will be in a group); i.e., South Africa cannot play the African teams from Pot 3 and Argentina and Brazil cannot be drawn against the three remaining South American teams. The first two African teams drawn from Pot 3 are placed with Argentina and Brazil. Similarly, hosts South Africa may not be paired with any of the other African nations (also placed in Pot 3).

Referees:
FIFA selected the following referees to work the World Cup:

AFC

Khalil Al Ghamdi

Ravshan Irmatov

Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh

Yuichi Nishimura

CAF

Mohamed Benouza

Koman Coulibaly

Jerome Damon

Eddy Maillet

CONCACAF

Joel Aguilar

Benito Archundia

Carlos Batres

Marco Antonio Rodríguez CONMEBOL

Carlos Amarilla

Héctor Baldassi

Jorge Larrionda

Pablo Pozo

Óscar Ruiz

Carlos Simon

OFC

Michael Hester

Peter O'Leary

UEFA

Olegário Benquerença

Massimo Busacca

Frank De Bleeckere

Martin Hansson

Viktor Kassai

Stephane Lannoy

Roberto Rosetti

Wolfgang Stark

Alberto Undiano Mallenco

Howard Webb

Tie-breaking:

For the World Cup tournament, FIFA uses the following criteria to rank teams in the Group Stage.

greatest number of points in all group matches;

goal difference in all group matches;

greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;

goal difference in matches between tied teams;

greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;

drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

World Cup Group A:


Play in Group A of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 11–22 June 2010. The group consists of host South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, and France. Previously, in 2002 FIFA World Cup, France and Uruguay have met. The match ended 0-0. This is also the second time in which France, Mexico, and Uruguay are drawn in the same group with the host nation. It was in the 1966 FIFA World Cup that this coincidence occurred and resulted as host nation England and Uruguay advancing.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, France is ranked 7th, Mexico 15th, Uruguay 19th, and South Africa 81st. The group average is 31st place; excluding the lowest-ranked South Africa, the average ranking is 14th.

The winner of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group B. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group B.

South Africa v Mexico - 11 June 2010,16:00

Uruguay v France - 11 June 2010,20:30

South Africa v Uruguay - 16 June 2010,20:30

France v Mexico - 17 June 2010,20:30

Mexico v Uruguay - 22 June 2010,16:00

France v South Africa - 22 June 2010,16:00


World Cup Group B:

Play in Group B of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 12–22 June 2010. The group consists of Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic and Greece.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, Argentina is ranked 9th, Greece 10th, Nigeria 21nd, and Korea Republic 53nd. The group average is 23,25th; excluding the lowest ranked Korea Republic, the average ranking is 10th.

Argentina is one of the most successful national teams at the World Cup, having won twice (1978 and 1986) and also taking second place twice (1930 and 1990). They have reached the finals 15 times, more than any other country besides Brazil, Germany and Italy.

Nigeria won the gold medal in the sport during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

This will be Korea Republic's seventh straight World Cup appearance, having made it to the finals a total of eight times (more than any other Asian team). Their best performance was fourth place at the 2002 tournament.

It is the second time that Greece, the 2004 UEFA Euro champions, have qualified for the World Cup finals. Their previous appearance was in 1994.

In the 1994 FIFA World Cup, three of these teams (Argentina, Nigeria, and Greece) were in the same Group D along with Bulgaria. Nigeria and Argentina qualified for the second round, but both lost their next matches to Italy (2-1) and Romania (3-2), respectively.

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group A. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group A.

Korea Republic v Greece - 12 June 2010,13:30

Argentina v Nigeria - 12 June 2010,16:00

Argentina v Korea Republic - 17 June 2010,13:30

Greece v Nigeria - 17 June 2010,16:00

Greece v Argentina - 22 June 2010,20:30

Nigeria v Korea Republic - 22 June 2010,20:30

World Cup Group C:

Play in Group C of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 12–23 June 2010. The group consists of England, the United States, Algeria, and Slovenia. In the December 2009 FIFA World Rankings, England was ranked 9th, the United States 15th, Algeria 26th, and Slovenia 31st. The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group D. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group D.

England is the most historically successful team in the group, having won the 1966 FIFA World Cup. This is England's thirteenth appearance in the World Cup finals. This will be the United States' sixth straight appearance out of a total of nine. Algeria qualified for the third time after competing in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cup finals. Slovenia is competing in a World Cup final for the second time. Only England and the United States have previously met in a World Cup, the 1950 FIFA World Cup, when the United States defeated England 1–0.

England v United States - 12 June 2010,20:30

Algeria v Slovenia - 13 June 2010,13:30

Slovenia v United States - 18 June 2010,16:00

England v Algeria - 18 June 2010,20:30

Slovenia v England - 23 June 2010,16:00

United States v Algeria - 23 June 2010,16:00

World Cup Group D:

Group D of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 13–23 June 2010. The group consists of Germany, Australia, Serbia and Ghana.

In latest FIFA World Rankings, Germany is ranked 5th, Serbia 13th, Australia 23th, and Ghana 28th. The group average ranking is 17,25th ; excluding the lowest-ranked Ghana, the average ranking is 13,6th.Along with Group G it is considered to be a Group of death.

Germany, then competing as West Germany, were in the same group with Australia in 1974 where they beat them 3-0 and subsequently advanced to the second round.

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group C. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group C.

Serbia v Ghana - 13 June 2010,16:00

Germany v Australia - 13 June 2010,20:30

Germany v Serbia - 18 June 2010,13:30

Ghana v Australia - 19 June 2010,16:00

Ghana v Germany - 23 June 2010,20:30

Australia v Serbia - 23 June 2010,20:30

World Cup Group E:

Play in Group E of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 14–24 June 2010. The group consists of the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and Cameroon.

None of these teams have ever met before in a World Cup group stage.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, the Netherlands are ranked 3rd, Cameroon 20th, Denmark 33rd, and Japan 45th. The group average is 25.5; excluding the lowest-ranked team Japan, the average is 18.6

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group F. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group F.

Netherlands v Denmark - 14 June 2010,13:30

Japan v Cameroon - 14 June 2010,16:00

Netherlands v Japan - 19 June 2010,13:30

Cameroon v Denmark - 19 June 2010,20:30

Denmark v Japan - 24 June 2010,20:30

Cameroon v Netherlands - 24 June 2010,20:30

World Cup Group F:

Play in Group F of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 14–24 June 2010. The group consists of reigning World Cup holders Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, Italy is ranked 4th, Paraguay 29th, Slovakia 31st, and New Zealand is ranked 80th. The group average is tournament-low 36th; excluding the lowest-ranked team New Zealand, the average is a tournament-low 21,3th. This group may be considered to be the weakest of the groups since three of the teams are among the bottom 10 ranked teams in the tournament.

Italy previously met Paraguay in 1950. The game ended 1-0 in favor of Italy but neither team qualified to the next round.

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group E. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group E.

Italy v Paraguay - 14 June 2010,20:30

New Zealand v Slovakia - 15 June 2010,13:30

Slovakia v Paraguay - 20 June 2010,13:30

Italy v New Zealand - 20 June 2010,16:00

Slovakia v Italy - 24 June 2010,16:00

Paraguay v New Zealand - 24 June 2010,16:00


World Cup Group G:

Play in Group G of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 15–25 June 2010. The group consists of Brazil, Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire and Portugal.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, Brazil are ranked 2nd, Portugal 4th, Côte d'Ivoire 25th, and Korea DPR 105th. This makes this the only group to include two top-ten ranked teams. The group average is 34th; excluding the lowest-ranked team Korea DPR, the average is a tournament-high 7.75th.These facts have seen the group already labelled the tournament's Group of death.

Brazil and Portugal had also been drawn in the same group at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The Portuguese team beat Brazil 3-1 to advance to the quarter-finals; they went on to finish in third place in the tournament.

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group H. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group H.

Côte d'Ivoire v Portugal - 15 June 2010,16:00

Brazil v Korea DPR - 15 June 2010,20:30

Brazil v Côte d'Ivoire - 20 June 2010,20:30

Portugal v Korea DPR - 21 June 2010,13:30

Portugal v Brazil - 25 June 2010,16:00

Korea DPR v Côte d'Ivoire - 25 June 2010,16:00


World Cup Group H:

Play in Group H of the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place on 16–25 June 2010. The group consists of reigning European champions Spain, Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.

In the latest FIFA World Rankings, Spain is ranked 1st, Chile 13th, Switzerland 15th, and Honduras 35th. The group average is 16,25th; excluding the lowest-ranked team Honduras, the average is 10th.

Chile and Spain were in the same group in 1950 in a group where only the Spaniards qualified. Chile and Switzerland were also in the same group in 1962 when Chile was host and qualified to later reach the third place. On the other hand Switzerland and Spain competed in the same group in 1966 but either of them advanced to the next round. Honduras and Spain were also in the same group in 1982.

The winners of this group will advance to face the runners-up in Group G. The runners-up of this group will face the winners of Group G.

Honduras v Chile - 16 June 2010,13:30

Spain v Switzerland - 16 June 2010,16:00

Chile v Switzerland - 21 June 2010,16:00

Spain v Honduras - 21 June 2010,20:30

Chile v Spain - 25 June 2010,20:30

Switzerland v Honduras - 25 June 2010,20:30


So,the time to wait and ready to accept new world cup 2010.