South Africa: 2010 Cup Will Better Germany

Germany’s World Cup in 2006 is still some months away and yet South Africa is already planning to beat it in terms of spectacle and success when the soccer showpiece comes there in 2010. "It must be better" than the other World Cups, said former anti-apartheid activist and lawmaker Danny Jordaan, the head of South Africa’s organizing committee. "It must be African and world class." The 2010 World Cup will mark the first time that world's most-watched tournament will be held on African soil and the biggest international event ever staged in South Africa. Jordaan told AFP that FIFA president Sepp Blatter had informed his team during a visit in January that the 2010 World Cup stood a chance of being more financially successful than the 2006 event in Germany. The 2010 World Cup promises to be more than just a sports event, said Jordaan, pointing to the 1998 tournament in France as a trendsetter in that approach. "We would like to place it in a broader context as France did," said Jordaan. "In terms of looking at culture, music, tourism…total experience, not only a football experience, I think what we have seen in France really made an impact," he said.