Why the World Cup is good.

The World Cup, eh? What are you going to do? The biggest sporting event on Earth is here, and, try as you might, you simply can't avoid it. Much like herpes it's back after four years to see men procrastinate sex, and make woman cry. And I love it. Every time the World Cup comes around you get the same naysayers peddling the same arguments: it's only a game; there are far more important things in the world; it takes away money the government could use elsewhere; vuvuzelas are shit. Well, stop it. All but that last argument are bollocks, and you know it. The World Cup is being held in South Africa and this was a controversial decision before we realised what vuvuzelas sound like. This is an opportunity for South Africa to show the World just how far it has come since Mandela was released. To marginalise football as trivial compared to some of Africa's, obviously, larger problems is not entirely fair; this is an opportunity for people all over the world to be privy to the side of the Rainbow Nation we never see.
Unlike Europe, Africa will be united at the World Cup, they will go into the tournament as a mutually consenting force, each cheering on each others victories and each mourning each others setbacks. This is exemplified by the so called 'African six pack' comprising South Africa, Ivory Cost, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria. They will all be the home nation for this tournament, all proudly wearing the banner of South Africa for the next month. If France or Germany had attempted to coerce Europe in this way in 1998 or 2006, there wouldn't be a Europe left. But the benefits of this tournament far outweigh the blurring of Nationalistic pride- Football is huge in Africa. For many African's it is their only escape from their day to day struggles, indeed, many young Africans see an escape into football as their only chance to escape poverty. Young footballers could be a lucrative export for South Africa, and one only has to look at the beyond commendable efforts of Didier Drogba to realise what an asset to the country a successful world footballer can have. However, the current state of African football academies is exploited by European Countries in what Sepp Blatter called “social and economic rape” with a majority of teenage footballers exploited by unscrupulous agents and illegal academies. A well run world cup could help to change all of this. The interest in African football will never have been at a greater high and if the African authorities can organise a professional, exciting world cup then investment into African football from FIFA could easily become a world wide agenda, and help make sure their “Win in Africa, with Africa” slogan, is not just a slogan. Renewed investment could help create a viable academy system and allow South Africa to get fair compensation for exporting their young footballers. There will always be debate over the validity of investment into stadiums over public services, but the triumph of this world cup would be both economic and symbolic. While it will, undoubtedly, bring millions in from tourism, it could be the moment people look at, years from now, when Africa is a footballing powerhouse, and say “that is when it all changed” and isn't that something worth cheering? They could also make vuvuzelas popular, but I doubt it.