Soccer: D-day for South Africa's World Cup 2006 bid

DURBAN - Today, 24 gentlemen will meet in Zurich to decide which countries will be entrusted with the task of organising the 2006 World Cup.

For one country, the day will bring joy, while for three others (now that Brazil have pulled out), it will bring sorrow and heartbreak. There will, of course, also be the obligatory "we wuz robbed and it is all politics".

For over two years, Danny Jordaan and his bid committee have been working tirelessly to ensure that we are the country that will feel that joy.

They have covered the world, bringing South Africa's message that it is "Africa's turn" to Samoa, to Sydney and to Rome, they have spoken to people in Malta and in Argentina in New York and in Scotland and in less than 24 hours they will know if all their efforts were in vain.

If - and needless to say, I hope not - the Fifa Executive Committee decide that South Africa is not the right place to host the 2006 World Cup, Jordaan and his co-workers can rest assured that it is not because they have not tried hard enough.

They could not have tried harder and the campaign that they waged would have brought justice to Al Gore's campaign to be elected as the President of the USA - arguably the most powerful man in the world.

But unfortunately, it is not only the amount of work that has gone into a campaign that decides its success or failure. There are many other things and these are somewhat less predictable.

Some of you might not know exactly how the voting happens: the 24-man (yes, there are no females) Fifa executive committee will listen to the final presentations of the four bid countries.

They have received (and should have read) the technical reports assessing the four countries and they then start voting on the issue.

Unless one of the countries (South Africa, Morocco, Germany and England) receive 13 votes, the country with the least votes shall be eliminated at the end of the first round and then the whole procedure starts again.

This happens until there are only two countries left. If there is a tie of 12 votes each, the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, will have the final say.

I have looked at the committee quite closely and I - as well as most experts - believe that it is a two-horse race between Germany and South Africa and the chances of the countries both getting 12 votes in the final round are real.

That will bring it down to Blatter having the final say and he is on record as wanting Africa to host the 2006 World Cup and that should bring good news!

Here's hoping that happens.

- THE MERCURY

Win or lose, South Africa will booze

World Cup decision countdown - Independent Online (South Africa)