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Gear up for Football Fridays

VULNERABLE: The motor manufacturing sector was rocked by more than 2 50017/05/09. Pic. Phillip Nothnagel. © Unknown.
VULNERABLE: The motor manufacturing sector was rocked by more than 2 50017/05/09. Pic. Phillip Nothnagel. © Unknown.

Lihle Z Mtshali

Lihle Z Mtshali

A new campaign to get every South African excited about next year's Fifa Soccer World Cup will be launched in June - exactly a year before we host the world's largest football event.

The Football Fridays campaign is the brainchild of Southern Sun managing director Graham Wood and is now being adopted by the World Cup local organising committee (LOC).

The hotel group launched Football Fridays last month, which sees all staff members donning their favourite soccer jersey on Fridays.

Derek Carstens, the LOC's chief marketing officer, said: "We are developing a programme and are looking at launching the campaign at about the time when there is a year to go before the World Cup, but people can start wearing their football jerseys on Fridays even before the launch happens.

"It was very generous of Graham (Wood) to share the idea with us and hats off to him for a brilliant idea," he said.

Priya Naidoo, general manager of communications at Southern Sun, said: "Our 7000 employees around the country interact with international guests on a daily basis and we just wanted to take control of our own environment and do something to create awareness of the World Cup."

All staff members are involved in the campaign.

Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the local organising committee, welcomed Southern Sun's initiative and said it was "a positive step towards what we want to achieve for this World Cup.

"If the hotel staff are warm and embrace the event it will not only be good for the World Cup but it will also give a boost to return tourism," he said.

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