DANNY JORDAAN: THE ALUMNUS WHO AWAKENED AFRO-OPTIMISM THROUGH FOOTBALL
Football is often seen as the glue that binds Africa. And SAFA President Danny Jordaan is here to ensure it reignites African pride, too By Lynne Rippenaar-Moses
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hen South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan submitted South Africa’s first bid in 2000 to host the FIFA Soccer World Cup, it was more than just an attempt to bring one of football’s most prestigious events to African shores. It was a deliberate act to reawaken Afro-optimism on the continent. South Africa lost the 2000 bid to Germany by a single vote — yet Jordaan was undeterred. He simply bid again four years later and, in the presence of the late President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
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watched as South Africa was selected as the first African country to host a World Cup in the 101-year history of FIFA. “My life has always thrown very difficult challenges at me,” says Jordaan, “but what I have learnt over the years is that if there is a goal to be achieved that is worthwhile and in the interest of the people then there is no time to surrender or retreat.” With South Africa at the dawn of its democracy, Jordaan wanted to counter Afro-pessimism in South Africa, the continent and abroad through the World Cup by demonstrating the skills, knowledge and capabilities of
South Africans and Africans to successfully host such events. In an attempt to obtain Botswana’s support for the second bid, he participated in a media briefing in the country. When he left the briefing, he was stopped by a journalist who had one more question to ask. “He wanted to know if I really thought that South Africa could compete against Germany and England and win. He said: ‘Do you think you can match them?’ I told him: ‘I am not going to match them, I am going to be better than them’. “We can be African and world-class — there is no
