World Cup In South Africa Research Articles

Identification of Defensive Performance Factors in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of defensive play in elite football, to identify variables associated with the direct recovery of ball possession, and to propose a model for predicting the success of defensive transitions. We analyzed 804 transitions in the final stages of the Fedération Internationale Football Association (FIFA) World Cup 2010, and investigated the following variables using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses: duration of defensive transition, possession loss zone, position of players at the start and end of the defensive transitions, defensive organization, general defensive approach, time of the match, position of defense, zone in which the offensive transition ends, match status, and outcome of the defensive transition. We found that the defensive transitions started most frequently in the middle offensive zone (48.9%), with an organized defense set-up (98.8%), and were unsuccessful on 57.2% of occasions. The bivariate analysis showed that the variable most strongly associated with direct recovery of the possession of the ball (p = 0.018) is the area in which the ball is lost, and the multivariate analysis showed that the duration of the defensive transition can be used as a performance indicator, with transitions lasting between 0 and 15 s associated with a higher likelihood of directly recovering the ball. This work has allowed us to identify a pattern of tactical-strategic behavior with major probabilities of success in the defensive transitions. These results will be able to be used by coaches to improve the performance of their teams in this type of situation in the game.

EXPLORING THE SOCIO ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF A MEGA SPORTING FACILITY: LESSONS FROM SOWETO

ABSTRACT Hosting of the FIFA world cup in South Africa raised expectations of benefits in terms of developments (economic and otherwise). So much has also been documented about the financial and economic impact of the $3Billion spent on the 2010 event. This paper takes a view on the social impact the (re) development of the sports venues used have on the host community especially in terms of social legacies. The paper focuses on the Orlando stadium in Soweto. 19 interviews were conducted with stakeholders. Analysis of findings show that ‘ownership status’, ‘duration of stay in the area’ and the ‘distance of respondent’s house from the stadium’ were key factors responsible for their perception of the social impact of the stadium. The paper concludes that as a way of further enhancing the perception of social impact, government should encourage actions that help promote increased home ownership in the surrounding areas of the stadium. Keywords Economic Development, Social Impact, South Africa, Sporting Facilities and Urban Regeneration.

Risk and (in)security of FIFA football World Cups – outlook for Russia 2018

Preparing and hosting a FIFA World Cup has often been perceived to bring tremendous opportunities to the host country. These include stimulating a sense of patriotism and fostering nation‐building to help further modernize and fast-track infrastructural development within the country. Nevertheless, as with any sporting mega-events, hosting an event of such magnitude and international interest comes with exceptional risks. This essay presents an assessment of risks relating to previous FIFA football tournaments, namely – 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany; 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, to reflect upon a number of threats and challenges associated with the hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. With a lapse of eight years from the award to the tournament, the planning and operational decisions for Russia 2018 are undertaken under conditions of high ambiguity. The essay aims to identify the effects of uncertainties that may compromise the Russian World Cup through the assessment of potential and emerging threats that hold the potential to jeopardize the safety and security of the tournament.

Communicable diseases as health risks at mass gatherings other than Hajj: what is the evidence?

Mass gatherings are characterized by the concentration of people temporally and spatially, and may lead to the emergence of infectious diseases due to enhanced transmission between attendees. This is well-demonstrated in the context of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia. The goal of this review was to present the available evidence on outbreaks associated with a variety of pathogens, or also the lack thereof, as assessed by thorough surveillance at any mass gatherings with the exception of those in Saudi Arabia. A systematic search for relevant articles in the literature was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Sixty-eight studies were identified. Although outbreaks have not been reported frequently in or after mass gatherings outside the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, they have sometimes occurred at Muslim, Christian, and Hindu religious events, at sports events, and at large-scale open air festivals. In this review it was found that the most common outbreaks at these mass gatherings involved vaccine preventable diseases, mainly measles and influenza, but also mumps and hepatitis A. Meningococcal disease has rarely been recorded. Additionally it was found that the transmission of various communicable diseases that may not be prevented by vaccination has been recorded in association with mass gatherings. These were mainly gastrointestinal infections, caused by a variety of pathogens. It was also noted that some outbreaks occurring at mass gatherings have resulted in the international spread of communicable diseases.

Sport mega-events and tourism: contrasting the influence of host country and event

This is an empirical, descriptive study of tourists at sport mega-events. Its purpose is to describe tourists who attend sport mega-events. As an empirical study, it surveys tourists at two major sport mega-events in two different countries: the 2008 Olympic Games in China and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Building on a growing body of literature related to the marketing of sport mega-events, results support that both the place (China versus South Africa) and the attraction (Olympic Games versus FIFA World Cup) influence - across a number of place image variables - the nature and composition of the tourists who are attracted to the sport mega-event. The findings suggest that the sport mega-event can be used by the host country to target potential tourists who have limited interest in the event. Further, this research finds that the tourist view of the sport mega-event is influenced by the host country and the nature of the event. The research responds to a key need in both the literature and in practice, where understanding of tourists in the SME context is needed for countries, regions and communities.

Identidades em campo. Discursos sobre a atuação de jogadores interculturais de origem africana e antilhana na seleção francesa de futebol

<p>O texto tem como objetivo principal analisar parte dos discursos produzidos sobre a participação de atletas interculturais – de origem africana ou antilhana – na seleção francesa de futebol na última década. Partindo dos referenciais teóricos vinculados aos estudos africanos e pós-coloniais, e fruto de uma investigação de maior dimensão, buscamos analisar a forma como a sociedade francesa – com seus conjuntos populacionais híbridos e complexos – fomenta, interpreta e rejeita, a partir das imagens e ideias construídas sobre os imigrantes africanos/antilhanos e seus descendentes, o entendimento acerca de suas identidades e das relações interculturais e multiculturais geradas pelas diásporas pós-coloniais. Selecionamos, para uma reflexão inicial, notícias veiculadas pela imprensa francesa e europeia sobre a atuação de atletas interculturais na seleção francesa após o campeonato mundial da África do Sul, em 2010.</p><div> </div>

소셜 빅데이터를 활용한 올림픽 · 월드컵 화제성에 관한 연구

The purpose of this research is to understand the degree of concern about the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup and to suggest basic data for establishment of marketing strategies through collecting search volume in the venue of those two events and finding its decision factors and the difference in search volume by country, region, season, and venue.BR For the purpose of the study, we collected data from 4 countries, Canada, the UK, Brazil, and South Korea - for comparison with domestic data - where Olympics and World Cup were held from 2010 to 2014, and 5 events were selected as the subjects of the study (the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, the London 2012 Olympics Games, the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil). Oneway ANOVA and DecisionTree were used for statistical processing. The conclusion of this study are as follows.BR BR 1. Is there difference between the search volume between the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup?BR The search volume was different between the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup: it was greater in FIFA World Cup in all events and duration between 2010 and 2014. In the UK and Brazil which top soccer countries, the search volume for FIFA World Cup was greater than that of the Olympics.BRBR 2. Is there difference by countries regarding the degree of concern about the (summer/winter) Olympics and FIFA World Cup?BR 1) The search volume for the Olympics was different by countries. In particular, throughout the target period (2010-2014), the greatest was found in Brazil, while low in South Korea and the UK. No difference was found during the events.BR 2) There was no difference by countries in search volume for FIFA World Cup.BRBR 3. Is there difference in the degree of concern by season (off-season, Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cup, before and after Winter Olympics, before and after Summer Olympics, and before and after FIFA World Cup)?BR 1) The search volume for the Olympics was different by season. It reached its peak during the events, with the highest for the Summer Olympics.BR 2) The search volume for the FIFA World Cup was different by season. It reached its peak during the events, with the highest just before the events.BRBR 4. Is there difference according to hosting experience (current venue, previous venue, next venue, no hosting experience)?BR 1) The search volume for the Olympics was different by hosting experience. It was the highest in the current venue while the lowest in the countries with no hosting experience.BR 2) The search volume for FIFA World Cup was not different by hosting experience.BRBR 5. Is there difference by event (the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the London 2012 Olympics Games, the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil)?BR The search volume was different by event. It was high for the London 2012 Olympics Games, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil while low for the Winter Olympics (the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games).BRBR 6. What are the decision factors in the search volume for the Olympics and FIFA World Cup?BR The most important decision factor of the search volume was ‘Season’ for the Olympics, ‘Country’ for the Summer Olympics , and ‘Hosting Experience’ and ‘Event’ for other seasons (Winter Olympics, before and after Summer Olympics, before and after Winter Olympics, and off-season) The greatest search volume was found in Brazil during the London Olympics, which is followed by Canada, the venue of the event, during the Winter Olympics. The third was taken by London and South Korea, which showed high search volume during the London Summer Olympics. The fourth was given to Canada during the Sochi Winter Olympics.BR In regards of FIFA World Cup, Canada’s search volume was the greatest during the FIFA World Cup Brazil, the second was Brazil’s during the FIFA World Cup South Africa, and the third was in the UK’s during the FIFA World Cup Brazil, which precedes Brazil’s during the FIFA World Cup Brazil.BR

The sex ratio at birth in South Africa increased 9 months after the 2010 FIFA World Cup

IntroductionIn humans in the absence of significant stress the sex ratio at birth [males/(males+females)] is in favor of more male than female live births. MethodsThis study sought to determine the influence of the 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in South Africa on the sex ratio at birth in that country specifically 9months afterwards. Publicly available data from Statistics South Africa was utilized detailing recorded live births. Analysis was carried out by Chi-squared tests. ResultsFebruary and March 2011 about 9months after the World Cup, had the highest observed sex ratio at birth (relatively more male births) of 0.5063 for the period 2003 to 2012. The observed sex ratio at birth in the considered two months of 2011 was 0.63% (p=0.02) greater than the sex ratio at birth for corresponding periods from 2008 to 2012. The increase noted in 2011 corresponds to more than 1000 extra male births than expected for February and March 2011. ConclusionThe 2010 FIFA World Cup was followed about 9months afterwards by a significant increase in the sex ratio at birth. The main mechanism driving the observed increase in the sex ratio at birth in South Africa is most likely more frequent sexual intercourse at population level during the tournament.

Legacy in Major Sport Events: Empirical Insights from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

The awarding of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South Africa was an historic moment for all of Africa as football’s biggest event travelled to the continent for the first time. This study, set five years on, seeks to identify the legacies left by the construction of two new stadiums in Durban and Cape Town. As part of the EU-funded CARNiVAL project, which seeks to investigate the legacies and impacts of hosting such events, interviews were conducted with key stakeholders involved in the planning of legacies in the two cities. Using Chappelet and Junod’s (2006) framework to analyse the legacies, this study found that Durban and Cape Town have used different strategies to leverage the legacies with differing results. Yet, both stadiums have suffered from the same issue; a seeming lack of need for two stadiums with capacities over 54,000, for domestic sport leagues which average fewer than 10,000 spectators.

The turn of the south? Social and economic impacts of mega-events in India, Brazil and South Africa

In the neoliberal era, competing to host global sporting events has become a prominent urban promotion strategy, and with a few exceptions, the scholarly focus has been on the western experience. In contrast, this paper focuses on the south experience with specific reference to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. A common argument is that such sporting events provide global marketing opportunities that can attract foreign investment, which may serve as catalysts for development. A key goal is to promote the status and power of the post-colonial nation-state (although ironically ceding sovereignty to entities like FIFA for the duration of events). While there are some benefits, especially in terms of infrastructure development, the Indian, Brazilian and South African experience suggests that the privileged tend to benefit at the expense of the poor, and socio-economic inequalities were exacerbated. These points are illustrated in this paper with reference to evictions, loss of livelihoods and violations of human rights. Disturbingly, the cost of constructing new sports’ facilities and associated infrastructure escalated phenomenally from the original bid-document estimates, without any public oversight, and some are destined to be white elephants. The mega-events were largely organised and funded by the governments in consultation with the private sector, with little or no accountability to citizens, although such decisions had major implications in terms of the diversion of public spending priorities from more urgent social needs such as housing, healthcare and education.

Major Sports Events: The Challenge of Budgeting for the Venues

This research investigates the challenges of budgeting for the venues constructed for major sports events. It presents empirical data from three events, two of which experienced massive cost overruns. The venues used at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the 2011 FIS World Skiing Championship in Oslo, Norway, became 15.5 times and 17.5 times more expensive than the initial budgets, respectively. The 2012 FIS World Ski-Flying Championship, which was hosted in Vikersund, Norway, differed from them in that its final costs exceeded the initial budget by (only) 7.5%. One major reason for the cost overruns was the emphasis on other aims than constructing sports venues, after the award was made. Secondly, many of those who presented these aims operated as free riders who did not participate in funding the venues. Thirdly, the many volunteers involved in constructing the venue in Vikersund, which also included planning and preparations, significantly reduced the costs.

The Invisible Hand of Thierry Henry

This article highlights an aspect of mega-events that has been neglected: the changing composition of tourist arrivals during and after the event. The change happens because, in the FIFA World Cup, a quota of countries participate from each continent and this opens up new tourism markets. We show that the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa had a smaller growth effect on South Africa’s traditional tourism markets but attracted a large increase from nontraditional ones. However, the size of the effect, we find, is partly due to randomness: It depends on match results in the qualification phase of the tournament. We use a new long-run data set of tourism flows to South Africa and a gravity model for tourism flows and run counterfactual examples of play-off matches during the qualification phase to estimate how much more South Africa could have benefited had larger or richer countries qualified. We conclude that the random results of a few play-off games significantly affect the extent to which the World Cup benefits the host country’s economy.

The Rocky Road to Legacy: Lessons from the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Stadium Program

This article describes how the management and organization of the South African 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium program shaped the current legacy of an oversupply of overdesigned and underutilized stadiums. The article identifies seven key factors that explain the differences between expected benefits and the actual legacy. Identification of these factors contributes to the increasing academic interest in explaining the poor legacy outcomes of mega-events. In conclusion, we recommend that future host country governments defragment their stadium programs by establishing a World Cup Delivery Authority (WCDA), with responsibility for the leadership and coordination of the stadium program.

Leveraging mega-events beyond the host nation: a case study of the 2010 FIFA World Cup African Legacy Programme in Cameroon and Nigeria

This article focuses on mega-event leveraging, specifically on experiences in the developing context. While most large-scale sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cups have been traditionally hosted in the more affluent, developed and industrialised nations; the hosting of the first-ever FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010 provided new research opportunities to examine the effects of such events when they are hosted in developing contexts. The article departs from the premise that there is no known case study that has focused on the leveraging of mega-events beyond the host nation and this is an additional contribution to the growing literature on mega-event legacy impacts. The continental orientation (‘African World Cup’) accorded to the 2010 FIFA event by host nation South Africa, and the subsequent leveraging of the event across the African continent raises the importance of questioning the post-event legacies experienced beyond the host nation. A qualitative and quantitative methodology, within a case study design, was undertaken in two case study countries (Cameroon and Nigeria). Face-to-face interviews were conducted with relevant stakeholders and resource persons using a structured questionnaire. The results provide evidence that these countries attempted to maximise the leveraging opportunity presented by the mega-event. In addition, while the leveraging efforts yielded some positive benefits in terms of tourism and sport-related infrastructure, several challenges were experienced by countries in implementing legacy-related projects linked to the African Legacy Programme and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The South Africa World Cup: The Ability of Small and Medium Firms to Profit from Increased Tourism Surrounding Mega-Events

The purpose of this study is to implement a microeconomic lens to examine how a mega-sport event affects small and medium businesses (SMEs) that hope to profit from the increased tourism associated with the event. Guided by stakeholder theory, local SME owners were interviewed before and after the World Cup. Respondents suggested that the opportunities to take advantage of the World Cup were limited for SMEs because: a) limited or no access to the event and associated tourists, b) lack of knowledge and expertise to take advantage of opportunities, and c) the priority the organizing committee gives to other stakeholders, such as sponsors and the FIFA. Due to these constraints, SMEs were not able to build lasting partnerships through the World Cup, nor were they able to make any profit from the event.

Analyzing Factor of Time of Scoring Goal in Success of Football (Case Study: South Africa World Cup 2010)

Analyzing Factor of Time of Scoring Goal in Success of Football (Case Study: South Africa World Cup 2010)

Temporal Analysis of Losing Possession of the Ball Leading to Conceding a Goal: A Study of the Incidence of Perturbation in Soccer

The aim of this study was to examine the temporal occurrence of losing possession of the ball in soccer and its association with conceding a goal. Thirty two senior national teams competing in the 2010 World-Cup in South Africa and twelve youth soccer clubs were selected for match analysis. The results of time distribution analysis showed a significant positive skewness (K-SZ =3, S=0.463, p=0.000) for losing possession of the ball, transition time in senior (K-SZ =1.82, S=1.57, p=0.003) and youth groups (K-SZ =2.85, S=1.29, p=0.002) and normal distribution for variability of time to losing the ball (K-SZ =1.07, S= −0.280, p=0.19). The results of an independent t test showed that there was a significant difference (t=2.71, p=0.008) in transition time between youth and senior groups. In conclusion, this study showed that the number of times that the ball was lost increased near to a goal being conceded and the duration of the most recent loss was very close to goal-conceding. Thus effective strategies that have been employed to destabilise opponents include increasing the number of perturbations through losing possession of the ball, speeding up the transition periods and the final strike after the opponents lose the ball.

More than vuvuzelas? Towards an understanding of soccer fandom in Johannesburg

The vuvuzela, a one metre-long plastic horn commonly found at South African domestic football matches, was a controversial issue for television viewers watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as the broadcasters struggled to manage the droning sound of the horns. FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the local organizing committee defended vuvuzelas, with Blatter declaring that the horn ‘is what African and South African football is all about’. This paper questions such essentialized images of African soccer fandom. While there is a myriad of research on European soccer fandom, social science research on African sport often relegates sports fans to the passive role of observer, or omits them completely. Analysing sports fandom through the analytical lens of popular culture positions fandom as ‘the everyday practices and everyday experiences of ordinary folks’. Fandom is not simply society in microcosm but a space for the negotiation of a variety of identities. As such, Johannesburg soccer fandom reifies widening disparities between an emergent black middle class who eagerly consume an increasingly commodified game, and poorer supporters on the margins of the soccerscape.

Securitisation and the mega‐event: an editorial introduction

I n August 2011 organisers of the London 2012 Olympics staged rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony due to commence exactly one year hence. Meanwhile, other parts of the city were experiencing rioting and looting on a scale not seen for 30 years. Whilst these two events were largely distinct, their simultaneous occurrence underscored an important point. For all the attention to the enclosure, artificial urbanism and contrived spaces that hosting sporting mega events create, they are accommodated in complex and often contested urban settings. Two years later, the links between the politics of the street and the sporting mega-event spectacle became cemented elsewhere. Echoing protests against Mexico City’s profligate Olympic spending at a time of austerity in 1968, June 2013 saw more than a million people take to the streets across 100 Brazilian cities. Although activist causes were manifold they unmistakably coalesced around the social and pecuniary impacts of Brazil’s staging of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. As mega-event spectacles, replete with promises of ‘regeneration’ and ‘legacy’, continue to encroach further into the urban realm, so different levels of action, activism, governance and policy necessarily become drawn together. For sporting mega-events, it is in the realm of security practice where the heat generated by internationally focused agendas abrading with local practices, processes and priorities is greatest. Here, the promise of stringent security guarantees is a precondition for hosts who operate under a constant risk of catastrophic reputational damage should they not be met. Of course, it is rare that, in such a broad sense, ‘security’ can ever be guaranteed and, for planners, its pursuit results in dwindling levels of acceptable risk. When applied to the complex, dynamic and unpredictable realm of the global city, the contemporary stage for sporting mega events, such promises are even harder to keep. The result is uneasy coalitions of international, national, regional and local security practice; a merger of civil, military and criminal justice techniques and technologies of social control; and a proliferation of security priorities. Yet whilst some of these measures may be exceptional for the cities that host them, they often represent very familiar elements of mega-event security programmes.

Predicting Volunteers' Intention to Return: An Examination of Brand Personality, Prestige, and Identification of Sporting Events

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among four variables: brand personality traits, prestige of a sporting event, brand identification, and individuals' intention to return to volunteer for future sporting events. Five personality traits were included in the study: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. A proposed conceptual model was developed and tested with a sample of volunteers at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Two hundred twenty-four individuals participated in a self-administered questionnaire during the event. Results from structural equation model analysis showed that three brand personality dimensions—sincerity, competence, and sophistication—were associated with individuals' prestige of the sporting event. Furthermore, event prestige positively influenced brand identification, which had a positive impact on volunteers' intention to return for volunteering.