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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
08 June, 2007
Addis Ababa - A meeting of African sports ministers opened Thursday at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) here.
The ministers will discuss ways of reorganising the African Sports Council, which has already concluded its tenure of office.
Sports experts had held a three-day meeting earlier to set the agendaa for the ministerial meeting.
In its first day of deliberations, the meeting conferred on the relations between governments and national sports federations as well as between national and international federations.
The meeting also heard a report on the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which would be hosted by South Africa, and discussed ways to promote African cultural values and tourism utilising the 2010 FIFA World Cup as an opportunity.
The ministers also discussed Ethiopia's preparations to host the 16th African Athletics Championships next year.
The world cup is set to benefit the entire African continent, through changing negative international perceptions and leaving a legacy of projects and infrastructure beyond the month-long tournament.
The African Union has declared 2007 as the "Year of African Football", as the Confederation of African Football celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
Six of the 32 teams to be participating in the 64 games to be played from June 11 to July 11 2010 will be African teams, with South Africa, as host country, automatically assured a place for its national team,
The African Legacy Project, being headed by Dr Eddy Maloka, who is currently in Addis Ababa, already has R25 million in its coffers.
Some funding would be used to train and develop sports administrators across the continent, which has been a longstanding plan of the Organising Committee and FIFA, whose approach was summed up in the slogan "Win in Africa, with Africa" and the rallying cry, "Africa's time has come"
FIFA had budgeted R3,2 billion towards the games and that the people of South Africa through the government are investing about R17 billion - with over R8 billion going towards the stadia.
Additional investments of up to R1,015 billion were being made in 2010, through SA Tourism and the Department of Arts and Culture, which had a variety of cultural activities planned, he said.
Several companies had 2010-related marketing plans in place, such as "football appreciation sites" at shopping malls, while South Africa's Organising Committee itself had as many as 30 marketing campaigns planned.
The African legacy element of 2010 has been further cemented, by the recent appointment of the head of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou of Cameroon, to head FIFA's own executive organising committee for 2010. - NNN-BuaNews