Cash makes ball go round

29 May 2015 - 02:23 By Veleleni Mashumi, Mamelodi West

The media is salivating at the prospect of having the 2010 World Cup labelled "illegitimate" and "illegal". Come on, Africa would never have got a chance to host the event if we had played by the so-called rules.This investigation into Fifa is all about Americans throwing their toys out of the cot because they did not get to host the World Cup.It is interesting that the investigation does not include the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Are the World Cup competitions hosted outside of the US and Western Europe the only ones that are bribery-prone?The Americans want to cast doubt on bids other than their own.When Fifa awarded the 1994 World Cup to the US, not a nation known for playing football, t he American media said nothing.Obviously they were being patriotic, unlike our media, which will seize any opportunity to run down their own country. So the Americans are not doing football fans any favours. It is all about the US's self-interest. Finish and klaar.John Perkins' hard-hitting book The Confessions of An Economic Hitman will open the eyes of many Africans on how the US operates, putting its economic interests above those of all other nations.We will be watching with interest how future bids will be conducted.It is naïve to think that a national football association will spend millions upon millions on a World Cup bid without throwing a sweetener into the mix for those who have to make the decision.Why waste all that effort on blueprints and roping in former and current soccer legends?It is a global event watched by billions, for crying out loud...

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