September 20, 2007
By Emily Visser
JOBURG is expected to gain handsomely from the world's biggest business-to-business soccer convention, Soccerex, which kicks off on 25 November at the Sandton Convention Centre.
The four-day event would inject more than R7-billion into the Gauteng economy, said Paul Mashatile, the Gauteng MEC for finance and economic affairs. What's more, Soccerex would take place in Sandton for the three years leading up to the Fifa World Cup, which kicks off in June 2010.
"To us as the Gauteng government, this is not just about football, this is also about the economy," Mashatile confirmed at a press briefing at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday, 19 September.
It was held to mark the 66-day countdown to Soccerex and was attended by the Soccerex chief executive, Duncan Revie; Lucas Radebe, the Soccerex ambassador; and the MEC for sports, arts, culture and recreation, Barbara Creecy, among others.
Kick-off
The international convention is in its eleventh year and indications are that it will be double the size of last year's event, held in Dubai, when over 350 exhibitors took part.
The programme starts with a football festival between African Legends, led by Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish, and Asia Select, led by Ali Daei. Manchester United's Bryan Robson and Liverpool's Phil Thompson and John Barnes will play for Asia Select.
A football exhibition spanning three floors and an international football conference over three days will bring the beautiful game closer to Joburg than ever before. Among the key speakers will be delegates from the Premier League and Uefa, and teams Everton, Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam. Topics will include discovering brilliant youngsters, focusing on the World Cup and leaving a legacy.
Soccerex would be used as a "forerunner to the World Cup", Revie reiterated.
Local Organising Committee (LOC) member Tim Modise spoke on behalf of his chief executive, Danny Jordaan. "Soccerex ties in well with the whole 2010 project."
The Soccerex delegation briefs the press on the latest developments
Apart from staging the best World Cup, the LOC would like to promote the country as a tourist destination and grow the business of football, he said.
Of the 7,3 million visitors to South Africa last year, almost 50 percent spent their time in Gauteng. With up to 5 000 football delegates expected and 204 soccer associations in the country at the time, Soccerex will give a further boost to the province's position as a destination of choice.
The convention, to be opened by Fifa president Seph Blatter, coincides with the World Cup draw, which takes place in Durban on 25 November.
Sport for development
Soccerex not only focused on networking and business. Revie stressed that it was also about giving out a message to South African communities about learning and fun.
And the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) will partner Soccerex to showcase its Sport for Development programme at this year's exhibition, seeking to engage delegates in the development of children through sport.
Unicef has pledged to improve conditions at 585 of the most vulnerable schools in South Africa, identified by the national Department of Education.
Soccerex will also build a legacy park and sod turning is scheduled for the second week of November. The exact location is still to be finalised. The pitch will be built in February 2008.
Creecy confirmed that her department would focus strongly on the social investment opportunities provided by Soccerex. "We will use the entire Soccerex convention to promote niche arts and culture products of Gauteng."
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