South Africa made the choice to host one of the world’s biggest events for the first time on African soil. A trade-off would inevitably have to be made. A trade-off can be defined as “an exchange – giving up one thing to get something else.” (Parkin et al., 2010:8).
Hosting the tournament will expose South Africa’s social issues first-hand to the world. South Africa does have many. These issues will include their high HIV/AIDS rate, unemployment, poverty, crime and failing education system. These are issues that political leadership would prefer ignored.
South Africa could have chosen not to host the tournament. These issues would then have remained hidden from the rest of the world. They have instead decided to host the tournament and expose their social failures to the global community. This was just one of many trade-offs made for the 2010 soccer world cup.
The soccer world cup will inevitably generate tons of good will for South Africa. The trade-offs made for it will be worthwhile in the long run. Perhaps the international pressure that arises from this exposure will help aid the South African society in ridding themselves of these social tumours.
Reference List:
Book Sources:
· Parkin, M, Kohler, M, Lakay, L, Rhodes, B, Saayman, A, Schöer, V, Scholtz, F, Thompson, K, 2010. Economics: Global and Southern African Perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson.
Internet Sources:
· Michael Trapido, 2008. Should South Africa be hosting World Cup 2010? Mail & Guardian. [Online]. Available: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/traps/2008/07/09 /should-south-africa-be-hosting-world-cup-2010/ [Accessed 10 February 2010]
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