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The Soccer World Cup has been a wonderful success story so far, organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan said during an interview on Talk Radio 702 on Tuesday.

“We are very happy we have delivered 50% of the matches, and we are now moving to a stage where teams will start going back home,” he said.

Some of the successes Jordaan pointed out included matches starting on time, games being broadcast to about 100 territories worldwide as required, a vibrant atmosphere on the streets, and stadiums being filled to capacity. He was “sitting comfortably” because the transport system to the games was satisfactory.

Asked about the empty seats during matches, Jordaan attributed this to some fans having possibly been delayed at airports and park-and-ride facilities.

“Out of 32 matches, only four had no-shows. We have had no-shows at concerts and even at churches … Unfortunately no-shows are part of the show.”

He acknowledged that over-the-counter ticket sales should have been introduced earlier for South Africans, as, unlike developed countries, many people didn’t have internet access.

Despite this, Jordaan said 50% of tickets were sold to South Africans and demand remained high.

Jordaan said South Africa could possibly have the second highest attendance in World Cup history.

The organising committee was up to date with its financial management and, as a registered company, accounted for every penny to Fifa.

Read more here.

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter has brought the World Cup to South Africa, and now he is seeking to portray himself as a benevolent champion of foreign aid. Is the president of football’s international governing body, FIFA, really interested in more than his own fame?

In recent years, the FIFA president’s appearances in Africa have been met with roaring applause. Zuma called the decision to hold the World Cup in South Africa a “vote of confidence from the international community.” In Europe, however, critics accuse Blatter of being an opportunist when it comes to the politics of sports. They say he is merely using his self-declared weakness for Africa — he has recently been calling it a “love story” — to curry favor among poorer member countries and thereby to secure votes from their football associations.

Blatter’s adversaries claim that the awarding of the World Cup to South Africa, which was originally planned for 2006 and, in 2004, with the help of an artful trick in the rules, finally approved for 2010, was merely the fulfilment of a campaign promise. The votes of the African associations brought Blatter into office in 1998. By supporting the idea of a temporary rotation among the continents hosting the World Cup, he managed to place the spectacle in Africa this year.

But is it really Africa he cares about, or just his own image?

FIFA devotes 0.7 percent of its revenues to social causes, and it has had its own development office since 2005. There are initiatives for Africa with cryptic names like “Healthy thanks to the 11″ and “The 11+,” which promote accident prevention and helping people protect themselves against diseases by suggesting that they “avoid alcohol” and “drink clean water.”

The World Cup has to be a success, at least for Blatter, who has announced that he will run for reelection in 2011, which would be his fourth term. But if tourists attending this year’s World Cup become the victims of violent crime, no one will be interested in centers for hope and signature campaigns anymore. In fact, some might be asking how the poorest neighborhoods have actually benefited from the World Cup.

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The fact that the Northern League Party (a government coalition party) and its components hated Italy has been known.

For example, on Sunday the new governor of the Veneto region opened a local school with “Va pensiero”, the separatist anthem of Padania, instead of the Italian national anthem. Meanwhile, other Leaguers insult the Italian flag, saying it should be burned. And still others have publicly stated that they won’t support Italy at the World Cup.

But what Radio Padania (Northern League’s official radio station) did yesterday during Italy’s World Cup match against Paraguay has really caused a stir. The radio, commenting on the Italy – Paraguay match openly supported Paraguay and of course celebrated when the South American defender Antolin Alcaraz scored the 1-0 goal to give his team the temporary lead. “We scored!” Radio Padania’s commentator Roberto Ortelli cheered. “With Cannavaro completely dominated by the Paraguayan player.”

And then there was also Radio Padania’s simultaneous controversy against Fabio Cannavaro, who proposed that the Azzurri donate any eventual prizes to the 150 year celebration of Italian unification- a unification that, of course, those of the Northern League dislike.

After the match, at a press conference Italy coach Marcello Lippi responded angrily: “Radio Padania?” I don’t care. These are ridiculous and low-level things.”

Read the article here.

A sudden wind of confidence blowing through the Bafana Bafana camp makes a transformation from chumps to champs increasingly possible.

South Africa’s national side go into Friday’s opening match of the World Cup against Mexico at Soccer City alive with a hope that some six months ago did not exist.

While coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has warned in recent days that the team has achieved nothing yet, a run of 12 unbeaten games in pre-tournament warm-ups speaks of a dramatic transformation.

With the rare taste of victory has also come a sudden, and overwhelming, burst of patriotic fervour, reflected all across the country. While this unusual passion might rest too heavily on the shoulders of the relatively young South African side, they seem rather to have found further motivation from its growing intensity — even to the extent of revelling in all the attention, which is understandable after years of being considered a laughing stock and the butt of endless jokes.

Bafana will not be the first host nation to overcome years of mediocrity and surpass expectations at the World Cup. The Germans were in a similar situation four years ago and ended up finishing third, riding a tidal wave of nationalistic sentiment.

There is little chance of South Africa going that far, but there is much more hope that they will at least avoid the spectre of becoming the first host nation not to make it past the first round. Six months ago the prospect of Mexico, Uruguay and France in the opening round served to write off their chances.

Now the talk is not of whether the home side might be able to pick up a face-saving point here and there, but rather whether they can finish first in the group. This confidence emanates primarily from the players, who have, over a week of interviews, expressed a high level of genuine confidence in their ability to win on Friday and go on to reach the knockout stage.

Read more here.

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The road to the 2010 World Cup hasn’t been easy for footballing favorites such as France or Italy. But most of all, it hasn’t been easy for the host country, South Africa, which has been plagued with doubts regarding its organizational abilities and its overall planning of the biggest sporting event in the world. Recent scandals regarding construction contracts, poor crowd control, and FIFA’s dirty dealings have tainted what is traditionally a joyous and highly anticipated event for the billions of football fans around the world.

Yet, despite the recent (and multiple) doubts raised regarding South Africa’s planning of the 2010 World Cup, some die-hard fans have not lost focus on what the event has long-signified for many across the globe: international unity, fun, and some good ol’ fashioned flag waving.

Bjorn Heidenstrom, 41, set out from his home in Oslo, Norway 10 months ago with a mission to bike from Scandinavia down to Cape Town, South Africa. His goal: to raise awareness for the 45 million refugees spread throughout the world. Documenting his painfully long journey across 35 countries on his blog, The Shirt 2010,  Heidenstrom has collected shirts from amateur and professional football teams with the ultimate goal of sewing them together to make the world’s biggest football shirt.

I often sleep in a tent in strange places…To save money and to come in touch with the real world…. A sofa or a Shower cold [sic] be nice now and then…If you open your door then I will open the world for you! This symbol (”the shirt 2010″) will get the biggest attention during the World Cup 2010.

Sasa Jovic, 39, has walked the distance across 3 continents with another goal: to make it to South Africa in time for Serbia’s opening match against Ghana on June 13th. He has crossed the 16,000 km distance carrying a Serbian flag and his city’s crest all the while receiving text messages from friends back home encouraging his progress: “They tell me to ‘run, Sasa, run, otherwise you’ll miss the game!’”

Another Scandinavian is also trekking down from Northern Europe. Swede Sven Borg, 60, departed Lapaja in Swedish Lapland pushing only a ragtag cart with his possessions along. He sleeps in the open, carries no maps or compass, and covers 20 km a day. He left home in April 2009 and plans to be back by October 2012.

Meanwhile, the 32 year old Andre Grady from Newcastle, England, is also aiming to reach South Africa in time for the England-Algeria match on June 18th. With no money to purchase a flight, he has publicized his long trek on his blog, mymagicthumb.com, always nourishing the hope that someone will give him a lift to his destination:

Wake up in Ouagadougou, the only city in Africa with a name like an 80s pop group.
The plan is to travel as quickly as possible to Accra, meet Merrick, then hit the docks to see whether The Thumb can blag a ride on a boat/ ship/ pedalo to Angola.
There are more cows about, fewer donkeys, and plenty of encouragement from the people I speak to about the chances of getting a lift.

The trek southwards to the World Cup hasn’t come without tragedy, though. Dutchman Henk Witjs, 60, didn’t make it across the waters of Lake Malawi with his expedition of oranjes. His adventurers-in-arms will wear a black armband during the World Cup to remember his passing.

More here.

France will host Euro 2016 after finishing ahead of close rivals Turkey and rank outsiders Italy in a UEFA vote on Friday.

France President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared at the ceremony to support his country’s bid as the French, who have also hosted two World Cups, were awarded the tournament for the third time.

Turkey were bidding to host their first major football tournament while Italy’s chances had been written off after a critical review of their bid following UEFA’s inspection visits.

Problems and delays in Poland and Ukraine, who will jointly host Euro 2012, may have persuaded UEFA’s executive committee to avoid choosing Turkey, an untried country.

The Turkish government had promised to invest one billion euros ($1.23 billion) all in public money, in stadiums for the event. It would also need to spend an estimated 20 billion euros on national transport infrastructure, including high speed trains.

Read more here.

For the Italian national team on the road for the World Cup in South Africa, there might be another opponent than those on the field. In fact according to Cbs, there would be the long shadow of terrorism looming over the World Cup.

According to a statement on the extremist Mushtaqun Lel Jannah site, the Maghreb terrorist group affiliated with Al Qaeda, the group threatened to attack the World Cup in South Africa. The terrorist’s prime targets are the USA. and England, but even France, Germany and Italy: “All countries that fight a crusade against Islam.” The threat also has a warning directed at Fifa president Joseph Blatter: “All the safety controls and the X-ray machines that the USA will send to South Africa won’t be able to stop us.” The answer of the South African Minister for Safety arrived quickly: “We’ll ensure the safety of the millions of tourists arriving in South Africa by checking all of our territory.”

Nonetheless, this threat issued against Western nations concluded in a frightening way: “How nice it would be during the game between USA and England (Rustenburg June 12^th) in a stadium full of people, if at a certain time a big explosion would destroy everything causing hundreds of deaths.”

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The Lakers needed a win. They lost three games in a row. And last night’s game against Toronto was a difficult place to start.

But the Lakers found an incredible assist for its win. And it was help from a person that wasn’t even on court. Kobe Bryant’s team defeated the Toronto Raptors of Andrea Bargnani with the decisive help of Lapo Elkann, says Corriere della Sera.

The Agnelli family and Fiat heir “helped” the Lakers during the final moments of the game by anticipating the Raptors playmaker Josè Calderon on a ball that was going out of bounds. With 1:48 mins left, Elkann, who was sitting in first row, prevented Calderon from keeping the ball in play, and ultimately received a standing ovation by Lakers fans. Obviously Calderon disagreed. At the end of the match the Italian Bargnani said: “It was a crucial moment, we were trailing by two points. What was he trying to do?”

Elkann, apologized to Calderon during the match saying: “I saw the ball going out and I hit it. I’m not an expert on basketball”. The game, won 109-107 by the Lakers, was decided by a Kobe Bryant shot at the buzzer. We’ll see if in the next Nba Draft the LA Lakers will pick Lapo Elkann to once again defeat the Toronto Raptors. The Staples Centre has found a new hero.

World soccer governing body Fifa on Tuesday brushed aside lingering doubts about South Africa’s readiness for the World Cup, as cities across the nation staged dance parties and celebrations to launch the 100-day countdown.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter insisted the country was ready to host Africa’s first World Cup, which kicks off on June 11, and said he was bothered by naysayers who worry South Africa won’t pull it off.

“It’s not so much that there’s pessimism, but that it’s always being thrown into doubt. It’s bad, because when there’s doubt, there’s no confidence. For me and Fifa, that bothers us sometimes,” Blatter told a news conference in Durban.

“There is no doubt, no doubt,” he said. “Let’s go now, let’s have this World Cup, and then we will discuss it at the end of July.”

He spoke after a tour of South Africa’s 10 stadiums that will host the month-long tournament. Construction is complete at all the stadiums, and only two have yet to host games to try out the new facilities.

“We are on track, we are ready to make this World Cup and this is the main message following this inspection tour,” Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said.

The 100-day countdown dominated South African media on Tuesday, with celebrations planned in all the country’s main cities.

Read more here.

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Evgeni Plushenko, one of Russia's underperforming athletes, took silver in men's figure skating.

Perhaps it’s surprising that Russia managed to walk away with even three gold medals after giving its worst-ever performance at a Winter Olympics, writes The Moscow Times.

Its luge team, for one, has to build its own sleds for lack of money and only got a track to practice on at home in 2008 — and even then it doesn’t freeze properly.

“We make the equipment ourselves and almost from scratch,” Valery Silakov, president of the Russian luge federation, told The Moscow Times.

Silakov explained that it is hard to find people to produce luges within the country and even the Khrunichev space center cannot guarantee that its luges, which cost more than $100,000 each, will reach the needed speeds of about 130 kilometers per hour.

The Russian luge team left the Vancouver Games medal-less after veteran Albert Demchenko, 38, placed fourth. 
 
Demchenko complained in Vancouver about the lack of financing for his sport, saying he has to repair his luge out of his own pocket.

He and his fellow athletes only got a chance to train in Russia when a luge and bobsleigh stadium opened in Paramonovo, outside Moscow, in March 2008. The stadium, however, routinely faces problems with its freezing equipment, Silakov said. The stadium originally built for Soviet athletes is located in now-independent Latvia.

Despite the difficulties, Demchenk said he would like to try his luck at the Sochi Games in 2014, when he will be 42.

Russia might need him. With many athletes deserting during the turbulent 1990s, the younger generation who has replaced them remains amateurish. “Many of them entered sports schools after the [training] system had already been destroyed,” Silakov said.

With only two events left Sunday, Russia looked set to place a dismal 11th in the gold medals table, well behind leader Canada (13) and even countries like South Korea (6) and China (5). Russia also won five silvers and seven bronzes for a total of 15 medals.

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