South Africa may bid for 2020 Olympics
Last Updated: Thursday, October 22, 2009 | 1:33 AM ET
The Associated Press
The head of South African organizers for next year's World Cup thinks a successful soccer tournament could lead to the Olympics being held on that continent for the first time in 2020.
"The IOC decided to give South America its first Olympics, so the only continent now without an Olympics is the African continent, and therefore I think it's something that the IOC certainly will have to begin to think about," organizing committee chief executive Danny Jordaan told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Speaking after a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Jordaan said he could envision Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban bidding along with Egypt for the 2020 Games.
The IOC's 2011 session will be held in Durban, and Jordaan believes those meetings could serve as a springboard.
The IOC voted Oct. 2 to hold the Olympics in South America for the first time, awarding the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro.
Since the end of apartheid and the first elections with universal suffrage in 1994, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and soccer's African Cup of Nations the following year, and it co-hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2003.
Next year's World Cup is soccer's first in Africa.
FIFA is projecting record revenue for the 2010 World Cup, with Jordaan saying commercial partners will generate $3.2 billion US.
"The argument was that any World Cup on the African continent will lead to huge financial losses. Therefore, Africa must wait," Jordaan told a reception at South Africa's UN Consulate.
"This event, because of television, is actually without boundaries and without borders. And so you can return the value of the investment in New York and Miami and London and Paris, and all over the world.
"If we dismiss the argument for the World Cup, we've dismissed it also for the Olympics."
Jordaan hopes the secretary general attends the tournament.
"He must not only come to the continent when there is war, when he wants to talk about Darfur," he said. "He must come to Africa when Africa celebrates, when Africa excels. When there is good news, he must always be there."
Concerns remain
While stadiums are on schedule for next year's tournament, infrastructure concerns remain.
The high-speed train linking Johannesburg with Pretoria won't be completed in time, with only the section between Sandton and Oliver Tambo Airport outside Johannesburg ready for the tournament.
However, a new airport is scheduled to open in Durban by June and upgrades are being made to Oliver Tambo and Cape Town International Airport.
He said 1,000 additional buses and 200 more planes will be added to the transportation system, and police stations with holding cells will be established on the last car of each train.
Jordaan admitted there are no hotel rooms in some of the cities to accommodate spectators, mentioning Nelspruit and Polokwane. Because of that, fans will have to travel in and out for some matches.
He said places to stay have been set aside in neighbouring countries within driving distance, including Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
He played down concerns about crime.
"We have crime in our country, but if you ask, 'Do we have ability to safeguard everyone coming to the event?' I must say to you: Without doubt," Jordaan said.
"If I have information as to when you're going to arrive in our country, where you're going to stay, how you're going to move and so on, information that event organizers will have, I can tell you we will safeguard you in our country. It's not a problem."
