To catalyse infrastructural devt
Qatar 2022 was the story of how sport catalysed and fast- tracked the transformation and re- branding of a country into the world’s number one tourist destination; one of the world’s most visited cities in the past decade, and one of the fastest developing environments in the world across virtually all sectors, including sports. In short, Qatar 2022 was much more than just a football event. In the eight years it took from bidding to hosting, football was the least activity. That’s the nature of hosting mega- events. They become catalysts for either genuine development, or, unfortunately also, for waste.
Africa in 2010, hosted the greatest football event on earth - the FIFA World Cup, in 2010. Fourteen years after that edition of the Mundial benefits that accrued to the former apartheid enclave are still standing strong, and contributing immensely to sports development in that country.
In 2020, a decade after that major feat was achieved, by an African country, it was a proud Danny Jordaan, who spearheaded a successful bid and later chaired the local organising committee that told an international news agency that the ensemble, which had a $ 3 billion price tag left a positive legacy on the country.
Jordaan, who later became the president of the South African Football Association ( SAFA) told Reuters that airports, roads, and stadiums built for the tournament have impacted South African sport and economy, especially tourism.
“There was never money taken away from the delivery of essential services. The money that built the World Cup was always intended for new infrastructure,” Jordaan said, adding: “We changed the negative perception about the country and tourism has been a major winner since.”
Headded:“Therewasthesentimentthatafrica did not have the capacity and that it couldn’t be trusted. We were under so much pressure to deal with the world’s negativity, but after the World Cup, we saw a lot of that Afro- pessimism end.”
While the new stadiums and improved pitch conditions gave a massive boost to the South African professional football league, Jordaan said that in turn led the domestic league to win a five- year $ 277 million television contract in 2013.
It was perhaps Nigeria’s enormous football pedigree, rich history of hosting two World Cups at the cadet level, and the successful hosting of the 2003 All Africa Games that prompted the Confederation of African Football President, Patrice Motsepe to, in February, call on President Bola Tinubu, to submitabidtohostthefifaworldcup, stating that “the best of Nigeria” is back.
Unfortunately, the ugly truth remains that Nigeriaisnotasluckyasmotsepe’ssouthafrica when it comes to bequeathing structures that support sports and the economy after committing such huge amounts to hosting mega- sport events judging from evidence on the ground.
A former Chairman of the House of
Representativescommitteeonsports, Godfrey Ali Gaya, agrees that Nigeria has lost fortunes in hosting large sports shows due to certain extenuating circumstances.
He recalled: “I was involved in the FIFA U- 17 World Cup and the U- 20 event that Nigeria hosted. I was also involved in COJA 2003. When we hosted the U- 17 championship, it was a colossal waste because we did not get half of the money that we put into it; the same with the U- 20 World Cup; we wasted money. “Iremembercoja2003verywell; wespentover N27 billion to host the competition and in the end, Nigeria didn’t make up to N1 billion. It
opened a can of worms. There were many allegations/ accusations of corruption. Simply put, COJA didn’t serve Nigeria well in any way. “I witnessed the London 2012 Olympics, I was there; I was also in Brazil’s 2014 World Cup, and you know before these competitions started, these host countries had already recovered their money. They had recovered all that they spent in building stadiums and other infrastructure,” the former lawmaker claimed.
He continued: “For me, hosting competitions here in Nigeria may be good for political reasons, that is because we want to be seen as offering leadership to Africa or being capable of hosting. But if it is purely sports business, I believe there is no need to do that because, in the end, some people will feast on the money, others will go home complaining, and Nigeria will not gain from it.”
He said that while others host to gain from such events, Nigeria hosts to enrich some people, adding, “When Nigeria hosts competitions, sometimes we pay people to come and watch the games. During the U- 17 World Cup, we saw empty seats and we didn’t know what to do. So, we taxed ourselves and paid for our constituents to go and fill the stadiums. So, we must ensure that the people are on the same page with us, and will troop out to watch the games if we must host any competition… For now, I don’t think hosting such competitions will be in Nigeria’s interest.” A former captain of the Green Eagles, Segun Odegbami, who shares Gaya’s views about security concerns, also emphasised that hosting mega- sports events should naturally improve a country’s sporting fortunes from several standpoints, and not what the country is witnessing.
He explained: “For the eight years that it took Qatar to prepare for the one- month- long 64 matches played across eight venues, this small corner of the world was transformed into the centre of the universe. Qatar 2022 was the story of how sport catalysed and fast- tracked the transformation and re- branding of a country into the world’s number one tourist destination; one of the world’s most visited cities in the past decade, and one of the fastest developing environments in the world across virtually all sectors, including sports. In short, Qatar 2022 was much more than just a football event. In the eight years it took from bidding to hosting, footballwastheleastactivity. That’sthe nature of hosting mega- events. They become catalysts for either genuine development, or, unfortunately also, for waste.
“In hosting the World Cup in 2014, for example, Brazil built a new football stadium in Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon called Arena da Amazonia. The $ 300 million ultra- modern facility hosted only four matches. As soon as the event ended, the stadium became a white elephant, wasting in the dense vegetation of the Amazon, ‘ as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.’ That is another perspective, a view from the opposite end of proper planning and development.”
Qatar, according to reports, spent about $ 200 billion to organise the 2022 World Cup. The money went into the construction of eight new stadiums and other facilities across the tiny country of less than three million people, making it the costliest ever FIFA World Cup.
But apart from the public relations opportunities hosting the World Cup provided for Qatar, the country, according to reports, made up to $ 20 billion in profit from the revenuegeneratedbythemanymarketingand other economic activities that were part of the championship.
The Cote d’ivoire 2023 Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) has been adjudged as the best held in the history of the championship. Apart from the large number of tourists from across the world that trooped to the West African country to witness spectacular football, the edition has also been acclaimed as the most viewed edition as millions of people from across the world tuned in to watch the games.
According to reports, Cote d’ivoire spent more than $ 1 billion to host the tourney, and the money came from a $ 3.5 billion loan that the government secured from the International Monetary Fund ( IMF).
To get the country ready for the championship, the government upgraded its airports and constructed or upgraded roads, hospitals, and hotels in the host cities of Abidjan, Bouake, Korhogo, San Pedro, and the capital, Yamoussoukro.
Apart from the sports spectacle, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, according to experts, went a long way in rebuilding the nation and reunitingthepeopleafterthecivilwarsof 20022007 and 2010- 11.