2010 FIFA World Cup: Gender, politics and sport
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Authors
Pillay, Venitha
Salo, Elaine
Issue Date
2011
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The euphoria of the 2010 FlFA World Cup in
South Africa seems to persist, albeit as faded,
scraggy remnants of flags hanging precariously
on aerials and the side view mirrors of cars. The
cacophony around this event has died. Shakira
has left the stage. However the debates about
the gendered impact of the FlFA World Cup still
remain. This special issue of Agenda, maps out
some of the key features of the debate, as we
question whether women's participation in sport
has been significant and whether international
sporting events can make a substantive difference
in women's lives.
In the last decade or so. South Africa has
repeatedly revelled in having the world's gaze
trained upon us. From the moment Mandela
stepped out of prison and onto the world stage,
as a country we captured the world's attention.
And we loved it!! It was such a refreshing change
from being the pariahs of the world. Shortly
thereafter, we hosted the Rugby World Cup and
won. Hollywood even made a movie. Invictus,
that brought President Mandela and the Rugby
World Cup into brilliant unison, as a visual tribute
to the powers of reconciliation. Since these
magical moments a number of mega international
sporting events, such as the World Cup Cricket
tournament, international golf, surfing and tennis
matches have been held here. It seems we have
become somewhat addicted to being the centre
of attention on the global sports stage. In the
aftermath of the successful bid to host the FlFA
World Cup, it seemed that the event would usher
in a golden age of development for South Africans
across race, gender and the urban - rural divide.
And indeed, initially the promises of development
seemed to be realised, as new jobs were created
in construction, tourism and security. The president
of FlFA Sepp Blatter, tied the staging of the mega
soccer event integrally to a development agenda
in South Africa and the continent. He claimed that
the FlFA World Cup presented a
common grounb for engaging in a wide range
of social development activities, including
education, health promotion, social integration
and gender equity (Blatter, 201 0).
Description
Due to copyright restrictions, the full text of the article is not attached to this item. Please follow the doi link at the top of the page to the online published version of the article.
Citation
Venitha Pillay & Elaine Salo (2010) 2010 FIFA World Cup: Gender, politics and sport, Agenda, 24:85, 4-10
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
2158-978X