As the first round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa draws closer to its conclusion, there has been no shortage of shockers: the colossal failings of England and France, the complete structural breakdown of the latter, the Swiss beating Spain, New Zealand holding the previous Cup champions Italy to a draw—the list goes on and on. But on an entirely different level South Africa has already staged some of the biggest threats and security issues a World Cup has ever seen—sparking questions as to what is to be done in the future, what can be done now, and even whether or not the present Cup should continue at all.
It began about a week ago, when stewards and security guards employed at the ten official game stadiums suddenly walked out on formal contracts, citing wage inequalities and inhumane treatment. The employees, who were employed with a prominent private security firm, forced police occupation of five of the ten stadiums just so that the Cup would not be indefinitely paused. One unnamed employee called the work “modern-day slave labour.” By the end of the week, the escalating scene forced World Cup organizer Danny Jordaan to insist that should chaos reign, police wouldn’t hesitate to use force if necessary.
Another representative said, “There are already too many police engaged in the soccer spectacle, FIFA should learn to respect employees’ rights and not always hide behind the spectators rights at tournaments. If they must then employees will continue to push ahead and FIFA will have to reschedule the last week of the world cup!”
This sentiment seems to denote the severity of the events. And as if threats and security to the World Cup was not already in question, fans and players themselves have recently voiced concerns. This comes as valid given that police used tear gas and rubber bullets after both the Germany-Australia and the Italy-Paraguay matches after which strikes commenced.
FIFA has repeated stated that fans are in no danger should they take the proper precautions. But recently even Sani Kaita of the Nigerian squad has expressed complaint, after allegedly receiving over 1,000 death threats for getting a red card against Greece. The Nigerians were winning the match 1-0, with the Greek team able to rally back a victory after the red card.
Nigerian team spokesperson Idah Peterside said that Kaita is deeply worried and that he hopes that the government will treat these threats as a serious matter.”
Nigeria's Sports Minister Ibrahim Bio has also been alerted of the matter.
Peterside continued: “I'm confident that they are going to do something about it. The minister has told us that these things happen, that they are actions of some overzealous fans and we must not worry about it.” When contacted, South Africa police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo stated that all players were receiving adequate protection, and that the police themselves had not caught wind of any threats to Kaita.
A possible source for the threats is that Kaita is being blamed for Nigeria’s second defeat. They will only advance to the next stage if they beat South Korea, and Argentina beats Greece in the last Group B matches. Both matches are scheduled for Tuesday.
It is widely believed that Andres Escobar, who played for Colombia in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, was murdered after scoring an own-goal in the 1994 Cup.
Despite anxiety, security has increased around Nigeria’s base in Durban, but Peterside doesn’t think the team is under any serious threat.
“We have enough security in South Africa and we are not worried about the player's safety here.”
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