Bishops' official says 2010 soccer World Cup will help South Africa

Published: 2006-07-12

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- South Africa needs to put its heart into hosting the 2010 soccer World Cup because it will bring enormous benefits to the country, said Kabelo Selema, who heads the justice and peace department at the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference. "The work involved in getting ready will be an economic injection for the country that will help provide much-needed jobs for people," Selema said in a July 10 telephone interview from Pretoria. President Thabo Mbeki, who was in Germany at the close of the 2006 tournament July 9, told reporters in Berlin that South Africa can fulfill the international soccer governing body's requirements for hosting the World Cup and that fears the country is not financially or logistically equipped to do so are unfounded. Building new soccer stadiums, upgrading existing ones, providing adequate transportation infrastructure and accommodation are some of the challenges South Africa faces in preparing to host the world's biggest sports event, which has never been held in Africa.

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