Successful World Cup will help bring Olympics to Africa: Jordaan

A SUCCESSFUL 2010 World Cup will put pressure on the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to give the Games to an African country, World Cup Local Organising Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan told MPs yesterday.

A SUCCESSFUL 2010 World Cup will put pressure on the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to give the Games to an African country, World Cup Local Organising Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan told MPs yesterday.

"The one event Africa has not hosted is the Olympics," Jordaan told the portfolio committee on tourism.

"A successful World Cup will put pressure on the IOC to award the Olympics to Africa."

The first modern-day Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

"Africa has waited 100 years for the Fifa World Cup to be awarded. It has now waited more than 100 years for the Olympics to be awarded to Africa," he said.

Jordaan said there was a rising trend for mega-events such as the Olympics and World Cup to be granted to developing countries.

He mentioned Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which was recently awarded the 2016 Olympics over Chicago in the US.

"What we have seen recently is the awarding of these events to developing countries," he said. "For the first time after the award of the World Cup to South Africa, developing countries are in with a chance to host these mega-events." - Sapa