A Priori and a positivist view of FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Between a one-month period (11 June and 10 July 2010), the Republic of South Africa (RSA) successfully hosted the 2010 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA2010) World Cup. This paper contributes to the post- World Cup discourse of the impacts of the mega sporting event on business development in South Africa in particular, and in Africa in general. Using empirical data from secondary sources, along with theoretical reasoning, the paper contends that FIFA 2010 World Cup met the interests of all stakeholders in South Africa, more so from a political-economic than a macro-economic standpoint. Thus, the World Cup was a public expenditure by the South Africa government and people, and not a stimulus or impetus for business development either nationally or continentally. The paper posits that the World Cup is, in intent and purpose, a one-time, short-lived entertaining sporting event, hosted by a country for the global community to enjoy. In this sense, the event is, in general, a public good or service, and, in 2010, it achieved its purpose for South Africans. Quite heuristic from the success of FIFA 2010 World Cup P are lessons that can be learned for governance and entrepreneurship in Africa. The paper deciphered some of these lessons for policy and project planning, project financing and execution in Africa. The paper concluded that extrapolating the impacts of FIFA 2010 World Cup on business development in Africa is at best a research goldmine for business, management and economics scholars.