Until 1994, the World Cup hosts were: Uruguay (1930), Italy (1938 and 1990), France (1938), Brazil (1950), Switzerland (1954), Sweden (1958), Chile (1962), England (1966), Mexico (1970 and 1986), West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978) and Spain (1982). After that, FIFA officials, with the aim of popularizing football across the planet, decided to apply the principle of rotation when determining the host country of the mundial. In 1994, the United States hosted the World Cup, in 1998 France, in 2002 Korea and Japan jointly, and in 2006 Germany will host it. Germany, which in the elections four years earlier only managed to overtake the representatives of Africa by a single (!) vote on the home stretch.
At the same time, the whole world knew that the 2010 World Cup would definitely take place on the territory of the Black Continent. South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt submitted their candidacies, while Tunisia and Libya submitted a joint bid. In the end, the South Africans won by a majority of votes, the Moroccans took second place, and the Egyptians did not receive a single vote. The Tunisians and Libyans wisely withdrew their bids, convinced that they would hardly be able to hold the world championship properly.
However, the costs of such a tournament as the World Cup are fully recouped. South Africa will undoubtedly receive economic benefits, mostly in the long term. According to estimates by the committee that promoted the South African bid, the 2010 World Cup will create 160,000 new jobs, which, with 30% unemployment among the country's working-age population, is a big plus. An influx of tourists is inevitable. The cost of hosting the championship, by the most conservative estimates, will be about $500 million.
South Africa has many economic problems related to social inequality, which, moreover, has a pronounced racial character. But its economy is more developed than that of any other African country. Suffice it to say that South Africa accounts for about half of the continent's energy capacity and automobile fleet, and 60% of telephone subscribers. Its subsoil contains three-quarters of the world's gold reserves; it is among the world leaders in the extraction of diamonds, platinum, chromium, vanadium, and manganese ores, and it also has highly qualified specialists in a number of industries.
The time of apartheid has irrevocably passed. The Republic of South Africa is a highly developed country with a great future and a very attractive present. And what if its past is slightly tarnished?