Craig Urquhart

In the dead of night, the centre of Durban is not for the faint-hearted. Like many CBDs around the globe, criminals use the cover of darkness to operate. And yet, on the night of November 25 2007, Durban was one the safest cities on the plant. The occasion was the 2010 preliminary draw — Fifa’s […]

Remember the good old stadiums from the bad old days? If any venue symbolised apartheid-era soccer in South Africa, it was the Rand Stadium tucked away between the mine dumps on the south side of Johannesburg. Construction of the 15 000-seat facility was completed in 1951 and, for the next 25 years or so, some of […]

African football is entering a critical period — one that will determine whether the decision to host the World Cup on African soil for the first time was the correct one. Firstly, final preparations are now under way for the Confederations Cup, a tournament that will see hosts South Africa thrown into the deep-end with […]

Take a bow South Africa. Four free and fair democratic elections on the trot and the country has cleared another significant hurdle en route to hosting the 2010 World Cup. The gruelling election campaign which was frequently marred by political instability over the Jacob Zuma corruption trial has clearly impacted on the psyche of the […]

A quiet revolution is building in South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Stroke by stroke, note by note, thousands of singers, painters and other artists are plying their trade with a strong focus on the event. The KZN Gallery in Glenwood is currently hosting All Eyes in African, a magnificent exhibition of mosaics […]

Shortly after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a team of Fifa heavyweights visited the hosts of the next edition of the tournament in order to lay down the rules. South Africa, they told us, does not own the 2010 World Cup. Rather, it belongs to global football’s governing body and the international football community. […]

The 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) is back on the ropes — this time over its failure to promote the 2009 Confederations Cup which will be staged in just three months. Visiting Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke lashed out at the lack of signage for the key 2010 curtain-raiser. Fair comment, perhaps, but once again it’s […]

Remember the outpouring of emotion the moment when Fifa President Sepp Blatter confirmed the World Cup would finally be hosted by South Africa? Scenes of millions of people celebrating the dawn of the 2010 era were flashed around the world. But now, with just three months remaining before the Confederations Cup and 16 months left […]

In aeronautical terms, the point of no return is known as the “radius of action formula”. Either way, it refers to the moment beyond which a current course of action must continue because turning back is physically impossible, prohibitively expensive or dangerous. And so it is with South Africa’s charge towards hosting the 2010 World […]

Seven months ago, Port Elizabeth’s 2010 stadium managers, architects, construction workers and other role-players had their faces rubbed in the dirt. The venue had initially been selected as the only new stadium chosen for this year’s eight-nation Confederations Cup but, from the start, it was clear that it would be a tall order. After a […]

The international focus on South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 World Cup usually intensifies with major events – like the 2010 Preliminary Draw and the Olympic Games – or with key dates. And so it is with January 26, which marks the 500-day countdown to the start of the quadrennial showpiece of international football. It […]

Former Dutch Sport Minister Erica Terpstra is rarely short of words, but when she led a delegation representing 37 Dutch companies on a 2010 World Cup Trade Mission to South Africa late last year, she was left speechless by Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium: “Of all the stadiums we saw, that one is special – it […]