J O H A N N E S B U R G, (Reuters) – Africa waited decades to host its first soccer World Cup and when it comes, it’s during an unprecedented global economic crisis.
The recession has impacted every country, raising fears for the planet’s most watched sporting event, which kicks off a year from now on June 11.
Yet not even the worst crisis since the Great Depression seems likely to deter millions of fanatical football fans or big commercial sponsors.
Instead, the tournament is set to give South Africa a strong economic boost at its own time of need.
“We are quite lucky that it (the recession) has not touched FIFA, and in that
regard it has not touched the World Cup,” Thierry Weil, marketing manager for the sport’s governing body, told Reuters.
“Our partners (sponsors) are strong partners.
They also have suffered under the crisis, but all are clearly behind FIFA and the World Cup.”
Major economies, including the United States and those in Europe and South
America — home of the top football nations — have dived into recession.
Big, household name companies and sport sponsors have floundered, and tough times have forced other sports bodies, including motor racing’s
Formula One, to scramble to counteract dwindling incomes.
South Africa has sunk into its first recession in nearly two decades.
