Sport Industry Group

09 Jun 2010

Gideon Sam, president of the South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), talks to Sportindustry.co.za about South Africa’s sporting hopes for the future and the prospect of the Olympic Games coming to the country.

Q. What do you think the impact of the World Cup will be on South African sport in general?

What we’ve seen so far from the World Cup is that football has brought a happy and healthy vibe to the streets of South Africa. This is going to rub off on all sports. Just last week we had the Super 14 final in Soweto and the region was filled with flag-waving sports fans, both black and white. This World Cup effect will rub off on all sports and will have a massive impact on South Africa bidding to host other tournaments and events in the future. There is a long line of such events across a number of sports either already coming to South Africa or that we can bid for in the future. The impact of the World Cup is that we’re now able to say to all the federations is that it can be done. South Africa can bid to host anything.

Q. How has the World Cup changed the ethnic spread of sports fans in South Africa?

Before this tournament not many whites followed Bafana Bafana. It was an almost exclusively black sport. This has now changed. You look across the country in schools, churches and towns and there is a now a huge following for the team from all ethnic groups. Players have become recognisable names and there has been a raising of confidence in the team’s abilities. Much like the Rugby World Cup, this tournament has been a unifying force for South Africa.

Q. You mentioned that South Africa is looking at bidding for a host of other sports. Does the nation have the facilities and infrastructure to support these bids?

We are lucky in that the majority of sports are well-catered for in our country. Sports as diverse as equestrian, cycling and water sports all have high-class facilities that are more than capable of staging major events. The infrastructure is not bad. It is about encouraging the federations to have the confidence to bid for these events.

Q. There have been whispers of a South African bid to host the Olympics. Is this true?

We are absolutely looking at it. We told the International Olympic Committee following a meeting in Vancouver earlier this year that we would like to host the Olympics but that we wanted to wait until we had the full report after this summer’s World Cup which will give us much more concrete evidence as to our abilities to host such a major sporting event. All being well and with the full backing of FIFA, we’d like to look at hosting either the 2020 or 2024 Olympics. Our Minister of Sport has been very encouraging of such a prospect. He even turned round to me and said “what are we waiting for?” and he’s absolutely right. We are even looking at bidding for a Commonwealth Games even sooner. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be in the frame for these kinds of spectacles.

Q. Legacy is a commonly used word with this summer’s World Cup. What has been the tangible community impact of the tournament from your perspective?

The great news is that we have seen a lot of community programmes launched, the majority of which will continue long after the World Cup has finished. We ourselves have invested R187m in sports facilities in rural areas to help communities to embrace sport. We are also working with the Olympic movement to create a high-performance arena at the Moses Mabhida Stadium which will be the first such facility in the east of South Africa. The focus has to be post-2010 and the long-term impact. This is certainly an approach that has played well with sponsors.

Q. A number of South African federations, such as Athletics South Africa, have come under criticism in recent years for their administrative approach. Do you think there is a lack of strong leadership within these organsiations?

The problem we have in this country is that while the rest of the sporting world has moved into the professional era, we have stayed static. We simply have not moved forward quickly enough. Most CEOs of South African sport have come from a background of loving the sport as opposed to a professional capacity. Athletics South Africa is one such example – they loved the sport but lacked professional experience. Such volunteers are not enough any more. We are trying to move our sporting leaders into the professional era. We initiated a programme for all administrators to professionalise their approach and the initial results have been encouraging. The universities and colleges have also been brought into line to produce tailored individuals with a sport management background. The same is true of our sporting talent. Our university athletes are world-beating but this hasn’t translated into medal success at the likes of the Olympics. It can change but we need to pull together.