SA tipped to host World Cup 2023

IN the sweltering heat of a stuffy conference room at parliament‚ Sports Minister Thulas Nxesi‚ SA Rugby president Mark Alexander and chief executive Jurie Roux looked more relieved than elated that SA was chosen as the preferred candidate to host Rugby World Cup 2023.

There is still one more hurdle to clear – the official vote on November 15 – and although it should be a mere formality‚ there was an air of caution after SA’s bid was deemed the best submitted to an independent bid evaluation committee on June 1 this year.

The 827-page‚ 8.2kg bid book scored 79% against the committee’s six weighted criteria – France were second on 76% and Ireland third with 72%.

“Based on the evaluation contained in this report‚ the candidate that scored the highest marks and is therefore deemed to be the optimal candidate to host Rugby World Cup 2023 is South Africa‚” the report stated.

“It is the recommendation of the RWCL Board of Directors to World Rugby Council that South Africa should be awarded the right to host Rugby World Cup 2023.”

In theory South Africans should start celebrating but even though everything has been done to ensure that voting is transparent and untainted‚ SA still needs at least 20 of the 39 World Rugby Council votes to ratify the evaluation committee’s recommendation.

World Rugby‚ by embarking on a transparent bidding process‚ has all but ensured that when its members’ council votes in two weeks’ time‚ that SA’s bid will be ratified.— DDC