Resident Perceptions of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup Stadia Development in Cape Town

The 2010 Federation Internationale de Football (FIFA) World Cup to be hosted in South Africa is expected to provide an opportunity to further the country’s objectives of using sporting events to signal international recognition and promote socio-economic development. Studies on sport tourism events tend to focus on economic impacts and neglect social issues (Ritchie and Adair 2004). In particular, residents’ perceptions are overlooked although they are often directly impacted by sport events, especially when they reside in close proximity to the event location. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is heralded as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with significant legacy benefits for South Africans. However, generally, the actual voices of local residents are absent in relation to debates pertaining to this event and concomitant anticipated benefits (Swart and Bob 2007). One hundred residents in each location were interviewed. The focus of the study was to examine the perceptions of the residents towards the proposed stadia development and potential impacts of the 2010 World Cup. The findings reveal that there is considerable support and positive perceptions relating to South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup. However, there were several concerns raised in relation to the distribution of anticipated benefits and the impacts of the stadia on their lives.