Fifa Hands Sa World Cup Legacy Funds
FIFA has presented South Africa with a £63.1m legacy fund for hosting a successful 2010 World Cup tournament.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter lauched the 2010 FIFA Legacy Trust at Soccer City saying: ‘We trusted South Africa and that trust was well-founded. FIFA are not a circus where we pitch our tent and remove them when the event is over.’
‘FIFA will leave a lasting legacy for the youth of South Africa thanks to this successful World Cup.’
This trust will support a wide range of public benefit initiatives in the areas of football development, education, health and humanitarian activities in South Africa.
The trust forms part of FIFA’s 2010 FIFA World Cup related legacy programmes and delivers on FIFA’s pledge to ensure that South Africans will continue to benefit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Blatter added that the 2010 Legacy Trust would benefit the development and the education of South African children: ‘Education and development plus health care will be in South Africa thanks to the World Cup and this Trust.’
Blatter confirmed that £12.7m of the bonus had already been used to build the South Africa Football Association House before the World Cup.
As a first project financed by the trust, FIFA purchased 35 of the team buses used for the tournament and a fleet of 52 cars, which were handed over to SAFA for transport of their regional teams.
The trust will be administered by international auditing company Ernst and Young while the trustees, consisting of a representative each from FIFA, SAFA, the government and the private sector, will evaluate into which public-benefit projects the money is invested.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy Trust adds to a series of legacy initiatives launched and implemented by FIFA since 2005, consisting of the 20 Football for Hope Centres, the Win in Africa with Africa initiative, the 11 for Health campaign as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Ticket Fund.
Blatter praised South Africa for a groundbreaking World Cup – proving to the world that they could host the tournament – a feat that he now hopes that Russia and Qatar can also complete when they host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively.
