Citizens don’t want these political fakes

Where were you when British commentator Jim Beglin, screamed those immortal words: “Tshabalalaaa! Goal, Bafana Bafana! Goal for South Africa.

Goal for all Africa.Jabulela, rejoice!” I am sure many of us can remember it like it was yesterday. Sixteen years from that iconic moment, South Africa has qualified for a World Cup. The opening match will once again be between Mexico and South Africa.

A lot in our country, continent and world has changed since then. We might have thought of the World Cup as the Football World Cup as we entered the 2010 tournament but by the end of it, many of us understood that it was actually the Fifa World Cup, not football. There is a difference.

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Fifa, much like the South African Football Association, might give the illusion of a public institution but it is a private association focused on itself, not the public or the well-being of football. Today, as Europeans baulk at the ticket prices for the matches in the 2026 World Cup, the truth is that, as South Africans, we learnt the hard way, when we hosted the tournament. Many of us could not afford the tickets and had no idea how to get tickets for any of the major matches.

We were just happy when Fifa allowed us to pay for the privilege of watching matches that were not too high on the totem pole. But in 2010, like many across the world, we seemed to have a government that was a lot more receptive. Although we were hosting matches and they were being broadcast on commercial and public television, public fan parks were set up acrossthe country.

I recall that even the much-maligned Emfuleni Local Municipality in the Vaal, established fan parks in Sebokeng and Sharpeville so that every 2010 World Cup game could be watched by the poor. There was no sponsorship by businesses or brewery companies; it was just government taking the initiative to ensure that the people got to enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy. Did you know that in Britain the European Champions League final is usually broadcast free-to-air?

Not this year though. TNT Sports chose not to broadcast the final free-to-air, despite English club Arsenal contesting it against Paris Saint-Germain. Today, fan parks are commercial ventures, not public spaces.

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