Commonwealth Youth and Development - Volume 9, Issue 1, July 2011

The 2010 Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World Cup held in South Africa will go down in history as one of the most spectacular events in the history of FIFA and world sport entertainment: (a) it was the first World Cup to be hosted by an African country; (b) it was apparently the best organized World Cup ever - despite all the initial doubts and contingency plans mooted in the time between the award and the eventual hosting, and (c) that it is the world cup that allegedly netted FIFA the highest income in the history of Soccer World Cup events.

"Football trafficking" is a term used by human rights campaigners to describe the practice of importing scores of young kids from Africa to European football leagues. Agents and middlemen normally charge tens of thousands of dollars to bring children as young as eight to audition for a place on a European team. While this looks like a great opportunity for many kids that dream of becoming the next big football star, the reality is the vast majority end up without a place on a team, stranded in Europe, unable to work and unable to get home. The profit making and malpractice with players arise through football's labour market, which thrives on a legitimate human trade. This article seeks to unravel the causes and the extent of football trafficking, as well as suggesting ways of dealing with the problem. Due to the lack of written material, the researcher relied on media reports and football association statutes to compile this article. The focus of the study is West Africa. The reason for focusing on West Africa is that this is the area that has been worst affected by the problem, and if it is not debated, it could soon affect Southern Africa.

Severe sport-related ocular injuries are a major problem worldwide. Despite the ocular reflexes and protective position of the globe, ocular injuries occur frequently. These injuries range from periorbital bruising, subconjunctival hemorrhage, permanent scarring, and visual distortions to blindness. A research study has reported that in 75% of the patients who sustained severe eye injuries in various sports, some had a visual acuity (VA) of < 20/100. This reveals the seriousness of the impact these injuries have on functional VA and the subsequent quality of life. A direct blow to the globe from a blunt object smaller than the eye's orbital opening may cause rapid anteroposterior compression and dilation of the middle of the globe, transmitting a great force to the internal ocular structures. Such a blow may obviously lead to irreversible and avoidable loss of vision. Therefore, appropriate eye protective devices may be necessary to avoid possible injury and permanent visual loss.

One could wonder why politicians keep arguing with each other in parliament, for they rarely succeed in convincing one another of anything. I attempt to clarify this problem by comparing political argument with football. Both activities can be viewed as games. Football is, of course, a game, but politicians arguing with each other in parliament are also playing a sort of game. What is the aim of this game? The aim of argumentation in general is to use logic to force someone to give up his opinion. However, politicians seldom accomplish this. By viewing argumentation as a game, such as football, our attention is directed to the rules of the game and its tactics. The aim of parliamentary argumentation can be deduced from its rules and Aristotle's account of the argumentation tactic called dialectic.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the extent to which soccer could serve as a catalyst for interculturalism for youth athletes participating in club soccer in North Carolina. The proliferation of youth soccer leagues around the country and the diverse background of participants in these leagues present the context in which to examine if soccer is likely to serve as a catalyst for interculturalism by measuring the intercultural communication competencies of these soccer players.

This article investigates the impact that the 2010 Soccer World Cup had on nation building in South Africa. The initial expectations were similar to that of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in that the success of the national team, Bafana, Bafana, would provide a stimulus to bridge the divisions in society in a process of nation building. The potential of sport to enhance nation building is explained with specific reference to the problem of ethnic-based support for sport in South Africa. It is also pointed out that sport has a rather limited capacity to achieve nation building and that it should be supported with more tangible support, such as socio-economic benefits to society. The article also emphasises that the financial legacy of the Soccer World Cup will be an obstacle in the way of locating more funds for socio-economic development, such as housing. However, the Soccer World Cup left a valuable legacy, because the success of the tournament reinforced the general belief and sense of achievement of all South Africans as a nation.

Soccer, a sport played mostly by blacks, received a boost when FIFA decided to award the hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup (SWC) to South Africa. Throughout its existence over many decades, soccer in South Africa played second fiddle to sports such as rugby and cricket, which were popular with the country's white citizens. This situation was exacerbated by the banning of South African soccer by FIFA. South Africa was excluded from the global soccer community. Deprived of any contact with the international soccer world, it flourished in obscurity. In the past, soccer was not associated with higher education, as it was played by people who did not progress very far with their education. This picture changed with the advent of professional soccer, as a number of younger players furthered their education at tertiary institutions. The readmission of South Africa to the world soccer body opened avenues for local soccer. The World Cup engendered a spirit of togetherness among South Africa's people that will hopefully continue and be used as a stepping stone towards nation-building.