2010 World Cup: Kofi Annan of United Nations talks football
Kofi Atta Annan, the 7th General Secretary of United Nations is one big football fan. Coming from Ghana he says that football is the game that rules the fields.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he tries to follow football whenever he can but the World Cup is a different matter. He has to follow the proceeding of the tournament. He commented on the tournaments significance saying that it was a tournament that brought people from all over the world together in healthy manner.
The 72 year old icon said it was important for the tournament and the continent as this is the first global sporting event in an African nation. He told that he supported his mother country Ghana and will hopefully see them play this Cup just like last time.
He said that the African nation was very proud to be hosting such an event, “That’s obvious when you visit countries with teams in the final 32. For countries like Ghana, my own … well… the whole nation will ground to a halt when they are playing”.
About the African nations performance this summer in South Africa he said, “I am very optimistic. For some time, Africa has produced some of the best players in the world. But what is different is that African teams have not just one or two stars but world class players in every position”. He gave the examples of Ghana and Ivory Coast, saying Didier Drogba wasn’t the only star on a team that has potential and so does Ghana.
He proudly said that the tournament in South Africa would be a great success and would help to bring out more players like Michael Essien, Drogba and Samuel Eto’o from a country that is rich in talent.
He emphasized that great good can come from this tournament. He presented facts like there are more members of FIFA than there are of United Nations. He said, “Just imagine what we could achieve together if we could bring the same spirit of co-operation to meet the Millennium Development Goals, fighting hunger, and ensuring women play their full role in our communities.”
The African leader commended the efforts put in by the African nations to ensure the tournament could run swiftly and hoped that everyone has a fantastic visit.
He expressed this World Cup to be a major mind shift in mentality, “I think it will be a surprise for those with preconceptions about Africa. The headlines don’t do justice to the way the continent has changed for the better. The 2006 World Cup changed perceptions of Germany in a very positive way. I think 2010 will do the same for Africa.”
He anticipated that this tournament will showcase the diversity, talent and potential of Africa and help to encounter problems like climate change, poverty and hunger.
On his and Drogba’s collaboration on publishing ‘Scoring for Africa’ he said it is an alternative guide to the World Cup prepared by the Africa Progress Panel. The idea was to produce a guide with a development perspective that would carry the spirit of the World Cup beyond football and highlight some of the issues that unite and differentiate the countries represented. Didier is committed to development so it’s great to be doing this with him”.
On a personal level he said his patriotism comes into play when it comes to deciding a favourite player. He said he would choose Essien but is disappointed that he couldn’t participate. He said Drogba on the other hand is one of the best in the world so he would be his choice this summer.
He predicted the top teams from Europe and South America will have higher predictability of winning, “The gap between teams like Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina, who do well tournament after tournament, and the rest is narrowing. Spain looks very strong. And sides will write off the African teams at their peril.”
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