In June 2006 I boarded the last flight from London to
Frankfurt the day before England’s first World Cup match.
As you can imagine 99% of the passengers were English football fans heading to Germany to support England.
I happened to hear a conversation between two fans who said they had both been to the previous two World Cups, but there was no way they would be going to the next one as it was in South Africa in 2010 because the country was far too dangerous, but they would of course be going to Brazil in 2014.
Having spent many years living in South Africa, this of course saddened me to think that South Africa had such a bad reputation that obvious fanatic England fans would miss a World Cup just because it was going to be in South Africa.
Over the next few years on my travels I heard similar comments made about South Africa, and the fact people wouldn’t travel there for the World Cup for various reasons, but mainly safety concerns.
The best comment I heard was that South Africa was so dangerous that all the teams would be based on cruise ships off the coast and transported to the stadiums in helicopters!
South Africa clearly had work to do to improve its global image.
As you can imagine 99% of the passengers were English football fans heading to Germany to support England.
I happened to hear a conversation between two fans who said they had both been to the previous two World Cups, but there was no way they would be going to the next one as it was in South Africa in 2010 because the country was far too dangerous, but they would of course be going to Brazil in 2014.
Having spent many years living in South Africa, this of course saddened me to think that South Africa had such a bad reputation that obvious fanatic England fans would miss a World Cup just because it was going to be in South Africa.
Over the next few years on my travels I heard similar comments made about South Africa, and the fact people wouldn’t travel there for the World Cup for various reasons, but mainly safety concerns.
The best comment I heard was that South Africa was so dangerous that all the teams would be based on cruise ships off the coast and transported to the stadiums in helicopters!
South Africa clearly had work to do to improve its global image.
Four years later in January 2010 South Africa was a country full of optimism and excitement because of the fact that in a few months they would be welcoming the world to their country to experience the first World Cup in Africa. It wasn’t seen as just a football tournament, but also an opportunity to show the world what a great country South Africa is.
All the stadiums were ready on time, the airports were improved and all the world class hotels and attractions were ready for what was South Africa’s big chance to show the world.
More importantly, the people of the country were united and ready, as this was an opportunity to welcome the world with friendly open arms and perhaps shake off the negativity of the past.
In contrast, when it was announced that Brazil would host the World Cup in 2014, football fans around the world celebrated saying “that this could be the best World Cup ever”, regardless if they have ever been to Brazil or even met a Brazilian.
When people think of Brazil they simply can’t think of a negative thing about the country, although it has its own controversial history. You only have to mention Brazil and it conjures up images of beaches, cocktails, samba music, carnival and of course its beautiful people. Quite simply you mention Brazil and 9 out of 10 people will smile and say “I want to go”.
Nobody ever thinks of danger and crime. When you say you are traveling to Rio nobody would ever think of asking is it safe, as they do for Cape Town for example.
Brazil simply doesn’t have that image internationally, and
it doesn’t need to show the world what a great country it is.
In the years running up to The World Cup in South Africa, there was always negative story’s and rumours about FIFA wanting to move the event to the USA, Germany or even Australia. But South Africa rose above this and had all their stadiums completed before the FIFA deadline, which lead to an official announcement from Sepp Blatter himself that the World Cup would not be moved.
Having spent three months in Brazil in 1999, I decided to travel back to the country and spend two months visiting some of the host cities. It is January 2014 and is Brazil and its people ready to welcome the world?
The answer is NO! Both the country and its people don’t seem to care!
This is not to say that Brazilians are not nice friendly people like South Africans, but rather they have bigger problems to care about than just a football tournament, as that’s all it is to them because they don’t need to improve there image internationally.
Only half the stadiums are completed two months past the FIFA deadline, while several people have died in the construction of the stadiums, and one city might even lose its host city status as its stadium is so far behind schedule.
Add to this that the main international airport Sao Paulo’s (regularly voted the worst International airport in the world) new terminal is also unlikely to be finished in time.
These facts alone would have had the world crying out in 2010 for the World Cup to be taken away from South Africa.
When you talk to local Brazilians or even mention the World Cup to them they always have the same negative response which is “we don’t care” as they have massive problems with corruption, education, health care and infrastructure.
Corruption is at such a level that they see no way that the country or the man in the street can benefit from the World Cup, as any money made will go straight into somebody’s pocket.
Twelve months before the World Cup, millions of normal people took to the
streets as they saw through a price rise in local bus fares as the way the government was going to help pay for the event and actually got the decision reversed.
This has left an air of optimism about their protests and more are planned running up to, and perhaps during, the World Cup, as the people don’t want 12 shiny new stadiums, they want a better country and future.
Being a football loving country, this probably will not affect football fans visiting the country, and I am sure the stadiums in the main cities will be full, but this lack of enthusiasm for the event and lack of preparation by the country in improving its facilities and infrastructure (as they feel they don’t need to) might leave the average football fan shocked at what they find when the arrive in a country that is held in such high regard.
Thanks to @Johngoliath82 for editing this for me :)
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