With 2010 behind us, the focus in world soccer has returned to domestic leagues, and FIFA’s news exposure has taken a turn for the crass and cynical with the announcement that Russia and Qatar have won the latest World Cup bids.
But the world football governing body is about more than self-serving bureaucrats and votes for favours. FIFA’s promise to World Cup 2010 host South Africa specifically and Africa in general was to leave a lasting legacy in development, not just of the game, but in education, health care, and anti-poverty initiatives.
Football for Hope Centres in Africa
A centrepiece of FIFA’s World Cup 2010 legacy, 20 Football for Hope centres were planned for South Africa and other African nations. The scheme is partnered with streetfootballworld’s Football for Hope program, which utilises the game for social development. Each centre is hosted by a non-profit organisation and caters to the specific needs of its immediate community, with each site carefully chosen according to need for maximum impact.
Four centres are currently open. The first was the Khayelitsha Football for Hope Centre, opened in December 2009 in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha, South Africa’s fastest-growing township, and second largest after Soweto. The Khayelitsha centre is hosted by South Africa’s Grassroot Soccer, whose core mission is fighting HIV among young people. Apart from soccer skills training and a community league, the centre provides IT and media training, HIV testing and counselling, and tutoring and preschool programs, among others.
Centres in the Windhoek, Namibia township of Katutura and Nairobi, Kenya’s infamous Mathare slum opened shortly after the World Cup. They are hosted respectively by Special Olympics and MYSA (Mathare Youth Sports Association).
The latest to open, in December 2010, is the Baguinéda Centre outside Bamako, Mali, hosted by the AMPJF (Association Malienne pour la Promotion de la Jeune Fille et de la Femme). Baguinéda focuses on keeping at-risk youth in school, providing tutoring, literacy, computer skills and vocational training programs. AMPJF is particularly concerned with community development via the improvement of girls' and women's social standing and empowerment.
Centres scheduled for opening in spring 2011 include one in Kigali, Rwanda, to focus on peace-building; in Maseru, Lesotho, focusing on HIV prevention; and in Ghana, hosted by Play Soccer. All 20 Football for Hope Centres are on course to be open and running in 2012.
11 for Health
FIFA’s 11 for Health initiative seeks to promote basic health education and disease prevention to South African children and youths. FIFA’s Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-Marc) developed the program in conjunction with Grassroot Soccer, using football to reinforce eleven simple messages, such as “drink clean water,” “wash your hands,” “avoid drugs and alcohol,” “respect girls and women,” and “vaccinate yourself and your family.” Each of the eleven points is represented by a renowned footballer as spokesman, including Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Essien and Lionel Messi, making up a star-studded “XI” for health.
Win in Africa with Africa
Another of FIFA’s initiatives focuses specifically on improving the state of the game in Africa. Win in Africa with Africa aims to build stronger national teams by helping to address problems at club level within the sport, including lack of resources, disorganisation and corruption.
The program, which will serve as a template for future schemes in India and Oceania, was unveiled in 2006 and has installed millions of dollars worth of “FIFA RECOMMENDED Football Turf,” an engineered artificial-natural hybrid pitch which is more durable and requires less water than natural grass, making it ideally suited to some of Africa’s harsher climates. The scheme addresses head on a very basic obstacle to the growth of football in some African nations.
At an organisational level, Win in Africa with Africa marks a shift in FIFA policy, which previously dealt only with national football associations. Recognising that the corruption and incompetence of certain national FAs has handcuffed the development of African football, FIFA is now offering assistance directly to clubs in an effort to “professionalise” domestic leagues, with the intended effect of improving overall standards of African football. Explained FIFA envoy Ben Kofie at a Win in Africa with Africa conference in August 2009, “We realise that football at national level cannot develop if the clubs are not run professionally.”
2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust
In December 2010, FIFA and the South African government launched the 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust, a USD$100-million trust provided by FIFA, to be allocated to development projects in South Africa. The trust is administered by accounting firm Ernst & Young, with trustees from FIFA, the South African Football Association, the South African government, and the private sector.
Trust funding will go to social community projects focused on one of four key areas: football development; education; health care; and community development and anti-poverty initiatives.
World Cup Legacy in South Africa
While much of the focus on South Africa's hosting of World Cup 2010 has tended to revolve around the pros and cons of the actual tournament, and whether the country could benefit from such an expensive undertaking by reaping largely intangible dividends in terms of infrastructure upgrades and global "PR," FIFA has committed to concrete improvements to both South African and pan-African football, education, health care, and social development. These programs should be recognised as at least part of the true legacy of South Africa's World Cup.
Shona Black - Shona Black holds a degree in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University, and has recently returned to the field of Visual Arts after ...
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