2010 FIFA World Cup | Wiki | Everipedia You can edit something on the page right now! Register today, it's fast and free. 2010 FIFA World Cup People watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, with vuvuzelas . 2010 FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 2010 FIFA World Cup official logo Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa's Humanity Tournament details 11 June – 11 July (31 days) Teams 10 (in 9 host cities) Final positions 2014 → The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the nineteenth FIFA World Cup , the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations; in 2004, the international football federation, FIFA , selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals.

The matches were played in in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg . Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage , where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final . In the final, Spain , the European champions , defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after additional time , with Andrés Iniesta 's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, fitting the eighth nation to win the tournament, and the first European nation to win a World Cup hosted outside its home continent; all World Cups not held in Europe at that point in time had all been won by South American nations. As a result of their win, Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup .

Host nation South Africa , 2006 champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament. It was the first time that the hosts were eliminated in the first round. New Zealand with their three draws were the only undefeated team in the tournament, but were additionally eliminated in the first round. Host selection Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a short-lived policy, abandoned in 2007, [10] to rotate the event amongst football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup: Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and a joint bid from Libya and Tunisia. Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee additionally decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.

The winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich ; in the first round of voting South Africa received 14 votes, Morocco received 10 votes and Egypt no votes. South Africa, which had narrowly failed to win the right to host the 2006 event , was thus awarded the right to host the tournament. [12] Having successfully campaigned for South Africa to be granted host status, an emotional Nelson Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy . [13] During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup can be moved to another country. [14] [16] Franz Beckenbauer , Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, a few FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations. [14] [2] FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, stating that a contingency plan existed only to cover natural catastrophes, as had been in place at previous FIFA World Cups.

[19] Bribery and corruption On 28 May 2015, media covering the 2015 FIFA corruption case reported that high-ranking officials from the South African bid committee had secured the right to host the World Cup by paying US $10 million in bribes to then-FIFA Vice President Jack Warner and to additional FIFA Executive Committee members. [2] On 4 June 2015, FIFA executive Chuck Blazer , having co-operated with the FBI and the Swiss authorities, confirmed that he and the additional members of FIFA's executive committee were bribed in order to promote the South African 1998 and 2010 World Cups. Blazer stated, "I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup." [2] [2] On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, but South Africa was awarded the tournament instead. [2] Qualification The qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban on 25 November 2007.

As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically for the tournament. As happened in the previous tournament , the defending champions weren't given an automatic berth, and Italy had to participate in qualification. With a pool of entrants comprising 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams at the time, the 2010 World Cup shares with the 2008 Summer Olympics the record for most competing nations in a sporting event. Some controversies took place throughout the qualifications. In the second leg of the play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland , French captain Thierry Henry , unseen by the referee, handled the ball in the lead up to a late goal, which enabled France to qualify ahead of Ireland, sparking widespread controversy and debate. FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match, [25] and Ireland later withdrew a request to be included as an unprecedented 33rd World Cup entrant. [27] [29] As a result, FIFA announced a review into the use of technology or additional officials at the highest level, but decided against the widely expected fast-tracking of goal-line referee's assistants for the South African tournament.

[31] Costa Rica complained over Uruguay 's winning goal in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff , [33] while Egypt and Algeria's November 2009 matches were surrounded by reports of crowd trouble. On the subject of fair play, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said: I appeal to all the players and coaches to observe this fair play. In 2010 we want to prove that football is more than just kicking a ball but has social and cultural value ... So we ask the players 'please observe fair play' so they'll be an example to the rest of the world. [35] Slovakia was making their first appearance as an independent nation but had previously been represented as part of the Czechoslovakia team that had last played in the 1990 tournament. North Korea qualified for the first time after 1966; Honduras and New Zealand were both making their first appearances after 1982, and Algeria were at the finals for the first time after the 1986 competition.

Teams that failed to qualify for this tournament included Saudi Arabia , Tunisia , and Croatia , all of whom had qualified for the previous three finals; Sweden , Poland , and Ecuador , who had qualified for the previous two editions; and Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia and Turkey . List of qualified teams Switzerland (24) Preparations Five new stadiums were built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues were upgraded. Construction costs were expected to be R 8.4 billion (just over US$1 billion or €950 million). [38] South Africa additionally improved its public transport infrastructure within the host cities, including Johannesburg's Gautrain and additional metro systems, and major road networks were improved. [40] In March 2009, Danny Jordaan , the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, reported that all stadiums for the tournament were on schedule to be completed within six months. [42] The country implemented special measures to ensure the safety and security of spectators in accordance with standard FIFA requirements, [44] including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.

[45] At a ceremony to mark 100 days before the event, FIFA president Sepp Blatter praised the readiness of the country for the event. [47] Construction strike On 8 July 2009, 70,000 construction workers who were working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs. [48] The majority of the workers receive R 2500 per month (about £ 192, €224 or US$313), but the unions alleged that a few workers were grossly underpaid. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike would go on until FIFA assessed penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. [49] [51] The strike was swiftly resolved and workers were back at work within a week of it starting. There were no further strikes and all stadiums and construction projects were completed in time for the kick off.

[52] Prize money The total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as US$420 million (including payments of US$40 million to domestic clubs), a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament. [53] Before the tournament, each of the 32 entrants received US$1 million for preparation costs.

Once at the tournament, the prize money was distributed as follows: [53] US$8 million – To each team eliminated at the (16 teams) ($8.68 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$9 million – To each team eliminated in the (8 teams) ($9.77 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$14 million – To each team eliminated in the (4 teams) ($15.19 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$18 million – ($19.53 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$20 million – ($21.7 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$24 million – ($26.04 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) US$30 million – ($32.55 million in 2016 US dollars [54] ) In a first for the World Cup, FIFA made payments to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament.

This saw a total of US$40 million paid to domestic clubs. This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 group and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, like that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morocco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup . [55] [56] [58] Venues In 2005, the organisers released a provisional list of 13 venues to be used for the World Cup: Bloemfontein , Cape Town , Durban , Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley , Klerksdorp , Nelspruit , Orkney , Polokwane , Port Elizabeth , Pretoria , and Rustenburg . This was narrowed down to the ten venues [59] that were officially announced by FIFA on 17 March 2006.

The group draw was staged in Cape Town , South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre . [10] The ceremony was presented by South African actress Charlize Theron , assisted by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke . [10] The balls were drawn by English football star David Beckham and African sporting figures Haile Gebrselassie , John Smit , Makhaya Ntini , Matthew Booth and Simphiwe Dludlu. [10] Referees FIFA's Referees' Committee selected 29 referees through its Refereeing Assistance Programme to officiate at the World Cup: four from the AFC , three from the CAF , six from CONMEBOL , four from CONCACAF , two from the OFC and ten from UEFA . [10] English referee Howard Webb was chosen to referee the final, making him the first person to referee both the UEFA Champions League final and the World Cup final in the same year. [10] Squads As with the 2006 tournament , each team's squad for the 2010 World Cup consisted of 23 players.

Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad by 1 June 2010. Teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 24 hours before their first game. [10] Of the 736 players participating in the tournament, over half played their club football in five European domestic leagues; those in England (117 players), Germany (84), Italy (80), Spain (59) and France (46). [12] The English, German and Italian squads were comprised of entirely home based players, while only Nigeria had no players from clubs in their own league. In all, players from 52 national leagues entered the tournament. FC Barcelona of Spain was the club contributing the most players to the tournament, with 13 players of their side travelling, 7 with the Spanish team, while another 7 clubs contributed 10 players or more. In another first for South Africa 2010, one squad included three siblings. Jerry , Johnny and Wilson Palacios made history thanks to their inclusion in Honduras's 23-man list.

[92] Unusually, the game between Germany and Ghana had two brothers playing for opposite nations, with Jérôme Boateng and Kevin-Prince Boateng playing respectively. Match summary The 32 national teams involved in the tournament together played a total of 64 matches starting from the group stage matches and progressing to the knockout stage matches, with teams eliminated through the various progressive stages. Rest days were allocated throughout the various stages to allow players recovery throughout the tournament. Preliminary events were additionally held in celebration of the World Cup event. [12] All times listed in the table below are in South African Standard Time ( UTC+02 ). Day Results Group stage The first round, or group stage, saw the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group was a round-robin of six games, where each team played one match against each of the additional teams in the same group. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and none for a defeat. The teams finishing first and second in each group qualified for the Round of 16.

The South American teams performed strongly, with all five advancing to the knockout stages (four as group winners), and four made the quarter-finals (the only team from South America to not make it this far was Chile , who lost to Brazil ); but only Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals. The overall performance of African teams on the first occasion that the continent hosted the event was judged disappointing by observers like Cameroon great Roger Milla . [12] Of the six African nations only three won any matches (Ghana, South Africa and Ivory Coast), and only one (Ghana) progressed out of the first round. South Africa became the first host in FIFA World Cup history to not make it out of the group stage, finishing third in Group A behind Uruguay and Mexico , but ahead of France . Only six out of 13 UEFA teams progressed to the last 16, a record low after the round of 16 was adopted in 1986. Still, the final was played by two European teams. [92] Both of the finalists from the preceding tournament, France and Italy, were eliminated in the initial stage of the competition, the first time this has happened at a World Cup.

It was additionally only the third time the reigning champions were eliminated in the first round of the finals (after Brazil in 1966 and France in 2002). [12] Surprisingly, New Zealand , a team projected by a large number of to not attain a point in Group F, ended the tournament as the only undefeated team after drawing their three group matches, but they finished behind Paraguay and Slovakia and were eliminated. Tie-breaking criteria Teams were ranked on the following criteria: [33] 1. Greater number of points in all group matches 2. Goal difference in all group matches 3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches 4. Greatest number of points in matches between tied teams 5. Goal difference in matches between tied teams 6. Greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams 7. Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee Key to colours in group tables Teams that advanced to the Group A All times listed are South African Standard Time ( UTC+02 ) The knockout stage comprised the 16 teams that advanced from the group stage of the tournament. There were four rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round.

The successive rounds were the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. There was additionally a play-off to decide third and fourth place. For each game in the knockout stage, any draw at 90 minutes was followed by thirty minutes of extra time ; if scores were still level, there was a penalty shootout to determine who progressed to the next round. [101] Round of 16 Round of 16 In this round, each group winner (A-H) was paired against the runner-up from another group. South American teams again performed strongly in the round of 16, with four teams advancing to the quarter-finals including Brazil who defeated fellow South Americans Chile . England's 4–1 loss to Germany was their biggest ever margin of defeat at a World Cup finals. [13] [13] It was additionally the first time that a World Cup finals match between these two traditional rivals had a decisive result in regulation time, their four previous meetings all being tied at 90 minutes, with two settled in additional time and one in a penalty shootout.

Ghana defeated the United States to become the third African team to reach the last eight (after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 ), and the only African team to have achieved both a top 8 finish and a separate top 16 finish (in 2006). Paraguay and Ghana reached the quarter-finals for the first time. The round was marked by a few controversial referees' decisions , including: A disallowed goal by England in their 4–1 loss against Germany , where the shot by Frank Lampard was seen to cross the goal line when shown on television broadcast replays. An allowed goal by Argentina in their 3–1 win over Mexico , where Argentine striker Carlos Tevez was seen to be offside when shown on television broadcast replays, which were shown inside the stadium shortly after the incident. FIFA President Sepp Blatter took the unusual step of apologising to England and Mexico for the decisions that went against them, saying: "Yesterday I spoke to the two federations directly concerned by referees' mistakes [...] I apologised to England and Mexico.

The English said thank you and accepted that you can win a few and you lose a few and the Mexicans bowed their head and accepted it." [105] Blatter additionally promised to re-open the discussion regarding devices which monitor possible goals and make that information immediately available to match officials, saying: "We will naturally take on board the discussion on technology and have the first opportunity in July at the business meeting." [105] Blatter's call came less than four months after FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke said the door was closed on goal-line technology and video replays after a vote by the IFAB . [105] Referee: Héctor Baldassi ( Argentina ) Quarter-finals The three quarter-finals between European and South American teams all resulted in wins for Europeans. Germany had a 4–0 victory over Argentina, and the Netherlands came from behind to beat Brazil 2–1, handing the Brazilians their first loss in a World Cup match held outside Europe (other than in a penalty shootout) after 1950 when Uruguay won the decisive match 2–1.

[13] Spain reached the final four for the first time after 1950 after a 1–0 win over Paraguay. Uruguay, the only South American team to reach the semi-finals, overcame Ghana in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw in which Ghana missed a penalty at the end of additional time after Luis Suarez controversially handled the ball on the line. Referee: Benito Archundia ( Mexico ) [107] Final The final was held on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City , Johannesburg . Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0, with an additional time goal from Andrés Iniesta . Iniesta scored the latest winning goal in a FIFA World Cup final (116'). [109] The win gave Spain their first World Cup title, fitting the eighth team to win it. This made them the first new winner without home advantage after Brazil in 1958, [13] and the first team to win the tournament after having lost their opening game. [92] A large number of fouls were committed in the final match.

Referee Howard Webb handed out 14 yellow cards, more than doubling the previous record for this fixture, set when Argentina and West Germany shared six cards in 1986, [92] and John Heitinga of the Netherlands was sent off for receiving a second yellow card. The Netherlands had chances to score, most notably in the sixtieth minute when Arjen Robben was released by Wesley Sneijder to be one-on-one with Spain's goalkeeper Iker Casillas , only for Casillas to save the shot with an outstretched leg. For Spain, Sergio Ramos missed a free header from a corner kick when he had been unmarked. [111] Iniesta finally broke the deadlock in additional time, scoring a volleyed shot from a pass by Cesc Fàbregas . [13] This result marked the first time that two different teams from the same continent had won successive World Cups (following Italy in 2006), and saw Europe reaching 10 World Cup titles, surpassing South America's nine titles. Spain became the first team after West Germany in 1974 to win the World Cup as European champions .

The result additionally marked the first time that a European nation had won a World Cup Finals that wasn't hosted on European soil. A closing ceremony was held before the final, featuring singer Shakira . Afterwards, the former South African President Nelson Mandela made a brief appearance on the pitch, wheeled in by a motorcart. [96] [13] For the full list of goalscorers, see 2010 FIFA World Cup goalscorers South African winger Siphiwe Tshabalala was the first player to score a goal in the competition, in their 1–1 draw against Mexico , the opening game of the tournament. Danish defender Daniel Agger was credited with the first own goal of the tournament, in his side's 2–0 loss to the Netherlands . Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín was the only player to score a hat-trick in the tournament, in Argentina's 4–1 win over South Korea . It was the 49th World Cup hat-trick in the history of the tournament. Spain set a new record for the fewest goals scored by a World Cup-winning team, with eight.

[111] The previous record low was 11, set by Brazil in 1994 , England in 1966 , [111] and Italy in 1938 . [116] Spain had the fewest goalscorers for a champion as well (three – Villa with five goals, Iniesta with two and Puyol with one). [92] They additionally had the fewest goals conceded for a champion (2), equal with Italy (2006) and France (1998). Spain's victory marked the first time that a team won the World Cup without conceding a goal in the knockout stage. [109] The four top scorers in the tournament had five goals each. All of the four top scorers additionally came from the teams that finished in the top four, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Uruguay. The Golden Boot went to Thomas Müller of Germany who had three assists , compared to one for the three others. The Silver Boot went to David Villa of Spain, who played a total of 635 minutes, and the Bronze Boot to Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands, who played 652 minutes.

Diego Forlán of Uruguay had five goals and one assist in 654 minutes. A further three players scored four goals. [118] Only 145 goals were scored at South Africa 2010, the lowest of any FIFA World Cup after the tournament switched to a 64-game format. This continued a downward trend after the first 64-game finals were held 12 years earlier, with 171 goals at France 1998 , 161 at Korea/Japan 2002 and 147 at Germany 2006 . [92] Discipline 28 players were suspended after being shown two consecutive yellow cards (13 players), a single red card (8 players), or a yellow card followed by a red card (7 players). Awards Symbols Mascot The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi , an anthropomorphised African leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name came from "ZA" (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which means "ten" in various African languages .

[130] The mascot's colours reflected those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green. Official song The official song of the 2010 World Cup " Waka Waka " was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa, and is sung in both English and Spanish. [132] The song is based on a traditional African soldiers' song, " Zangalewa ". [16] Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the pre-tournament concert in Soweto on 10 June. It was additionally sung at the opening ceremony on 11 June and at the closing ceremony on 11 July. The official anthem of the 2010 World Cup was " Sign of a Victory " by R. Kelly with the Soweto Spiritual Singers, which was additionally performed at the opening ceremony. Match ball The match ball for the 2010 World Cup, manufactured by Adidas , was named the Jabulani, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in Zulu .

It was the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it featured eleven colours, representing each player of a team on the pitch and the eleven official languages of South Africa . [16] [16] A special match ball with gold panels, called the Jo'bulani, was used at the final in Johannesburg . The ball was constructed using a new design, consisting of eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These were spherically moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball was textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called GripnGroove [16] that was intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University , United Kingdom. [16] The balls were made in China, using latex bladders made in India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, and glue and ink from China. [16] Some football stars complained about the new ball, arguing that its movements were difficult to predict.

[16] Brazilian goalkeeper Júlio César compared it to a "supermarket" ball that favoured strikers and worked against goalkeepers. [16] Argentinian coach Diego Maradona said: "We won't see any long passes in this World Cup because the ball doesn't fly straight." [16] Notwithstanding a number of Adidas-sponsored [16] [2] [2] players responded favourably to the ball. Vuvuzelas The 2010 finals amplified international public awareness of the vuvuzela , a long horn blown by fans throughout matches. [2] [2] [2] [2] Many World Cup competitors complained about the noise caused by the vuvuzela horns, including France's Patrice Evra , who blamed the horns for the team's poor performance. [158] Other critics include Lionel Messi , who complained that the sound of the vuvuzelas hampers communication amongst players on the pitch, [2] and broadcasting companies, which complained that commentators' voices were being drowned out by the sound.

[162] Others watching on television complained that the ambient audio feed from the stadium only contains the sounds of the vuvuzelas and the natural sounds of people in the stands are drowned out. [163] [2] A spokesperson for ESPN and additional networks said that they were taking steps to minimise the ambient noise on their broadcasts. [2] The BBC additionally investigated the possibility of offering broadcasts without vuvuzela noise. [2] Event effects Social Tournament organiser Danny Jordaan dismissed concerns that the attack on the Togo national team which took place in Angola in January 2010, had any relevance to the security arrangements for the World Cup. [170] There were additionally reports of thefts against visitors to the country for the World Cup. Tourists from China, Portugal, Spain, South Korea, Japan and Colombia had become victims of crime. [2] On 19 June after the match between England and Algeria a fan was able to break through the FIFA-appointed security staff at Green Point stadium and gain access to the England team dressing room. The breach took place shortly after Prince William and Prince Harry had left the room. The trespasser was then released before he can be handed over to the Police.

English FA lodged a formal complaint with FIFA and demanded that security be increased. [2] Resettlement and eviction As with a large number of 'hallmark events' throughout the world, [2] the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been connected to evictions , [2] [2] [2] [2] [180] which a large number of claim are meant to 'beautify the city', impress visiting tourists, and hide shackdwellers. On 14 May 2009, the Durban-based shack-dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo took the KwaZulu-Natal government to court over their controversial Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act , meant to eliminate slums in South Africa and put homeless shackdwellers in transit camps in time for the 2010 World Cup.

[2] [2] Another prominent controversy surrounding preparations for the World Cup was the N2 Gateway council estate in Cape Town , which planned to remove over 20,000 residents from the Joe Slovo Informal Settlement along the busy N2 Freeway and build rental flats and bond-houses in its place in time for the 2010 World Cup. [2] NGOs, international human rights organisations, and the Anti-Eviction Campaign have publicly criticised the conditions in Blikkiesdorp and said that the camp has been used to accommodate poor families evicted to make way for the 2010 World Cup. [180] [186] [2] [2] However a few have argued that evictions are ordinarily common in South Africa and that in the lead up to the tournament a large number of evictions were erreonously ascribed to the World Cup. [2] Economy Some groups experienced complications in regards to scheduled sporting events, advertising, or broadcasting, as FIFA attempted to maximise control of media rights throughout the Cup.

Affected parties included an international rugby union Test match , a South African airline, and a few TV networks, all of whom were involved in various legal struggles with World Cup organisers. [2] [192] [2] During the tournament, group ticket-holders who didn't utilise all their allotted tickets led to a few early-round matches having as a large number of as 11,000 unoccupied seats. [2] While the event did help to boost the image of South Africa, financially it turned out to be a major disappointment. [196] Construction costs for venues and infrastructure amounted to £3 billion (€3.6 billion), and the government expected that increased tourism would help to offset these costs to the amount of £570 million (€680 million). Notwithstanding only £323 million (€385 million) were actually taken in as 309,000 foreign fans came to South Africa, well below the expected number of 450,000. [196] Local vendors were prohibited from selling food and merchandise within a 1.5 kilometre radius of any stadium hosting a World Cup match.

For a vendor to operate within the radius, a registration fee of R 60,000 (approximately to US$7,888 or €6,200), had to be paid to FIFA . This fee was out of most local vendors' reach, as they're simple one-man-operated vendors. This prevented international visitors from experiencing local South African food. Some local vendors felt cheated out of an opportunity for financial gain and spreading South African culture, in favour of multinational corporations. [2] FIFA president Sepp Blatter declared the event "a huge financial success for everybody, for Africa, for South Africa and for FIFA," with revenue to FIFA of £2.24 billion (€2 billion). [2] Quality In a December 2010 Quality Progress, FIFA President Blatter rated South Africa's organisational efforts a nine out of 10 scale, declaring that South Africa can be considered a plan B for all future competitions. The South African Quality Institute (SAQI) assisted in facility construction, event promotion, and organisations. The main issue listed in the article was transportation. [2] Media Broadcasting The 2010 FIFA World Cup was expected to be the most-watched television event in history.

[200] Hundreds of broadcasters, representing about 70 countries, transmitted the Cup to a TV audience that FIFA officials expect to exceed a cumulative 26 billion people, an average of approximately 400 million viewers per match. FIFA estimated that around 700 million viewers would watch the World Cup final . [202] New forms of digital media have additionally allowed viewers to watch coverage through alternative means. "With games airing live on cell phones and computers, the World Cup will get more online coverage than any major sporting event yet," said Jake Coyle of the Associated Press . [204] In the United States, ABC , ESPN and ESPN2 averaged a 2.1 rating, 2,288,000 households and 3,261,000 viewers for the 64 World Cup games. The rating was up 31 percent from a 1.6 in 2006, while households increased 32 percent from 1,735,000 and viewers rose from 2,316,000. The increases had been higher while the US remained in the tournament.

Through the first 50 games, the rating was up 48 percent, households increased 54 percent and viewers rose 60 percent. Univision averaged 2,624,000 viewers for the tournament, up 17 percent, and 1,625,000 households, an increase of 11 percent. [2] An executive of the Nielsen Company , a leading audience research firm in the US, described the aggregate numbers for both networks' coverage of the USA-Ghana match as "phenomenal". [2] Live World Cup streaming on ESPN3.com pulled in a few of the largest audiences in history, as 7.4 million unique viewers tuned in for matches. In total, ESPN3.com generated 942 million minutes of viewing or more than two hours per unique viewer. All 64 live matches were viewed by an average of 114,000 persons per minute. Most impressive were the numbers for the semi-final between Spain and Germany, which was viewed by 355,000 people per minute, making it ESPN3.com's largest average audience ever. [2] Filming Sony technology was used to film the tournament.

25 of the matches were captured using 3D cameras. [2] Footage was captured in 3D through Sony's proprietary multi-image MPE-200 processors, housed in specially designed 3D outside broadcast trucks. [2] It supplied its flagship HDC-1500 cameras as well as its new HDC-P1 unit, a compact, point-of-view (POV)-type camera with 3, 2/3-inch CCD sensors. [2] The 3D games were produced for FIFA by Host Broadcast Services. [2] Video games In PlayStation Home , Sony has released a virtual space based on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in the Japanese version of Home on 3 December 2009. This virtual space is called the "FevaArena" and is a virtual stadium of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, featuring different areas for events, a FIFA mini-game, and a shop with FIFA related content. [2] On 27 April 2010, EA Sports released the official 2010 World Cup video game .

[2] FIFA Fan Fest FIFA expanded the FIFA Fan Fest , hosting in Sydney , Buenos Aires , Berlin , Paris , Rome , Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City , as well as several venues around South Africa. [2] The Durban Fan Fest was the most popular in South Africa throughout the tournament followed by the Cape Town Fan Fest . [2] July 2010 Kampala attacks , a series of terrorist bombings in Kampala , Uganda, timed to coincide with the final match BBC Sport - Football - World Cup 2010: Dutch coach criticises referee Webb World Cup 2010: Dutch coach criticises referee Webb De Jong sees yellow for 'Kung-Fu' tackle Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk criticised English referee Howard Webb after his side were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup final. The match was marred by constant foul play which led Webb to book 13 players including the dismissal of Dutchman Johnny Heitinga for two yellow cards. "I don't think the referee controlled the match well," said Van Marwijk. "Both sides committed fouls. That may be regrettable for a final.

But the best team won the match." Webb, 38, was booed by the Dutch supporters as he and his assistants went to collect their medals at the end of what was an extremely challenging match for the official, in which he produced a new record number of bookings for a World Cup final and was forced to deal with a series of major incidents. You can referee wrong, make a mistake, but what you cannot do is create your own sense of justice and, even worse, invent a very personal application of the rules Johan Cruyff Nine of the bookings went to players from the Netherlands, who were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men in the first half when midfielder Nigel de Jong landed a boot in the chest of Xabi Alonso and in many cases Webb was left with little choice but to caution players for overly-aggressive challenges. In the book: Full list of cards With the teams facing a penalty shoot-out as the game was drawing to a close, Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta smashed in a half-volley - which ultimately won the game for Spain - leaving the Dutch incensed after Webb had failed to award their side a corner moments earlier when a Wesley Sneijder free-kick took a deflection off Cesc Fabregas.

Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen was booked for protesting the goal and afterwards goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg continued the condemnation of Webb, saying: "You blame the referee. Everybody outside the stadium can see it was a corner but he didn't and the assistant also." Arjen Robben had missed the Netherlands' two best chances of the match, which both came from one-on-ones with goalkeeper Iker Casillas. The second of these produced another contentious incident, when Robben was pulled back by Spain defender Carles Puyol outside the area but stayed on his feet before the ball bobbled to Casillas. Robben was incensed with Webb for his failure to award a free-kick - which could have earned Puyol a second yellow card - and chased the official, earning himself a booking in the process. Heitinga sent off in World Cup final "It is very clear," said Robben. "He has to send him off and he has to give a free-kick. In the end there was no advantage. It cost us because I didn't go down. "We were 10 minutes before the end of the game. If we score a goal there we can win the game.

But I couldn't score because the goalkeeper was too close." Van Marwijk added: "We made a real game out of it and we had two great chances through Arjen. "I'm not someone to look back on what the referee did. I think the best team usually wins the match. "But if you look at the second chance of Robben, the referee should give Puyol a second yellow card, which would have meant him being sent off. "It was a crucial moment just before the end of the 90 minutes. It is very bitter, but that is sport. It is harsh. And as I said, Spain were the better team." The Netherlands were extremely physical in their attempts to break up Spain's passing game - an approach that proved effective for much of the match but which earned them nine yellow cards as a result, including Heitinga's second. But the Dutch coach defended his side, saying: "It was still our intention to play beautiful football, but we were facing a very good opponent. "Spain are the best footballing country in the past few years, so we needed to have a top day to beat them. "We did a good job tactically on them. We got into good positions at times.

It's not our style, but you play a match to win. "It's a World Cup final, and there's a lot of emotion out there. You saw that with both teams. I would have loved to have won that match, even with not so beautiful football." And while admitting that Spain are "a terrific side", former Chelsea star Robben felt Webb's performance was not up to the required standard. Paul Fletcher blog The Netherlands were obviously intent on stopping Spain, although Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk insisted his players stayed within the law "It was a World Cup final," said Robben. "You are talking about two aggressive teams who want to win. It was for the referee to control the game. "It is wrong when you sit in the dressing room together and you are only talking about the referee and his very bad points. "There were some strange decisions and for me, honestly, if you play a World Cup final, you need a world class referee. I don't know whether that was a world-class performance from the referee." Dutch legend Johan Cruyff was critical of the Netherlands' aggressive style of play in the final but also had harsh words for Webb.

"When we say, often, that we do not like talking about referees, it is true," he told Spanish paper El Periodico. "Above all, because only refereeing like that last night by the English Howard Webb can create in us a state of such indignation that then yes, it is necessary to comment. "Because you can referee wrong, make a mistake, but what you can not do is create your own sense of justice and, even worse, invent a very personal application of the rules. "Not only did he not send off two Dutchmen but he also looked the other way at times when he should have involved himself. "A World Cup final deserves great refereeing and, above all, deserves a referee who dares to do everything it means to be a judge." Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen condemned the Dutch approach and defended Webb, who is one of the few full-time referees in world football. "If the Dutch had triumphed, it would have been bad for the game because there is no place for the way they approached the match," stated Hansen.

"It's one thing to have a game plan, be organised and get men behind the ball, but the cynical way in which they operated for the first 45 minutes was a total and utter disgrace. Van Marwijk (left) remonstrated angrily with Webb after the final whistle " "Howard Webb tried to make the game flow but on this occasion he was left with no choice." Former England manager and BBC 5 Live summariser Graham Taylor was similarly critical of the Dutch, saying: "You have to play within the laws of the game and one has to say that on two or three occasions they didn't. The tackle by De Jong into the chest of Alonso, Howard Webb must have missed that because that is a red card, you don't tackle people like that." Webb was awarded control of the World Cup final - the first Englishman since Jack Taylor in 1974 to be bestowed the honour - following his impressive handling of his three previous games, in which he showed 17 yellow cards. The Yorkshireman was widely praised for his player-management skills during a tense match in Group F earlier in the competition, which saw Slovakia eliminate 2006 World Cup winners Italy courtesy of a 3-2 victory.

He and his assistants Darren Carr and Mike Mullarkey became the first officials to have refereed a Champions League final and World Cup final in the same year. Webb has emerged as the Premier League's top referee following the retirement of Graham Poll, who came in for criticism himself during the 2006 World Cup after he showed three yellow cards to Croatia's Josep Simunic during their match with Australia. Sunderland manager Bruce praises referee Webb Despite the criticism of his side's display, Van Marwijk was quick to heap praise on his players after they reached the third World Cup final in the nation's history. "No one expected us to be here, in the final. We even came even very close to a penalty shoot-out. We could even have scored through Robben," added Van Marwijk. "Whether we would have deserved that, I don't know. But it's a final. It's very disappointing. You want to win it, and we might have done. I think we performed really, really well to get this far. "The team that scored the first goal was going to win that match. Those chances for Robben could have meant victory for us.

But, unfortunately, we weren't so lucky." World Cup final yellow cards (minute, player, country): Italy’s Nicola Rizzoli selected to referee World Cup final | Football | The Guardian Italy’s Nicola Rizzoli selected to referee World Cup final • Faced Belgian accusations of favouring Messi and Argentina • Italian took charge of 2013 Champions League final Nicola Rizzoli has been selected to referee Sunday's World Cup final between Germany and Argentina. Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images Press Association Friday 11 July 2014 15.42 EDT First published on Friday 11 July 2014 15.02 EDT Close This article is 2 years old The Italian official accused last week of favouring Argentina and Lionel Messi has been chosen to referee their World Cup final against Germany. Nicola Rizzoli, a 42-year-old who refereed the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley , will take charge of the match in the Maracanã on Sunday but his appointment may be controversial. Wilmots claimed: “I don’t want to be a cry baby but I noticed the referee never gives fouls against Argentina .

“Every time something happens with Messi the referee gives him a free-kick. I notice he [Messi] made three fouls and no yellow card, we made one foul and one yellow card.” It will be the third time this World Cup that Rizzoli has refereed a match involving Argentina – he was also in charge of their 3-2 win over Nigeria in Group F. His first match of the tournament was Holland’s 5-1 triumph over Spain in the group stage. Fifa’s head of referees, Massimo Busacca, said he had paid no attention to Wilmots’ claims and that “quality” was the reason for choosing Rizzoli. Busacca told a news conference in Rio de Janeiro: “I think the neutrality of the referees has been there in every game. If we pay attention on every single complaint the coaches make we will not select any more referees. If you have the best quality, then you should be given the best matches.” Ravshan Irmatov, from Uzbekistan, had been viewed as one of the favourites for the final as he is from neither Europe nor South America, but he does not have a team of assistants who work all the time with him.

England’s Howard Webb was never in contention to referee the final – he was in charge of the 2010 final and Fifa has never appointed an official to referee two World Cup finals. It was also felt that it would be too sensitive to have Webb referee a match in which Argentina are involved – the team are still going through a Fifa disciplinary process for displaying a banner claiming the Falkland Islands should belong to their country. Furthermore, Argentina’s Fifa senior vice-president, Julio Grondona , has never hidden his disdain for England. In 2011 he called the English “liars” at the Fifa Congress and in an interview with the German press agency DPA referred to the English as “pirates”.

Fifa 2010 World Cup Referees – a photo list – WineCape's Referee Blog Massimo Busacca (Switzerland, rated #1, born 1969) Roberto Rosetti (Italy, rated #2, born 1967) Howard Webb (England, rated #3, born 1971) Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay, rated #4, born 1968) Frank de Bleeckere (Belgium, rated #5, born 1966) Wolfgang Stark (Germany, rated # 9, born 1969) Hector Baldassi (Argentina, rated #10, born 1966) Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay, rated # 12, born 1970) Note: Amarilla will not officiate in the 2010 World Cup due to one of his assistant’s failing his fitness test – see here.

Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain, rated # 13, born 1973) Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan, rated #15, born 1977) Oscar Ruiz Acosta (Colombia, rated # 16, born 1969) Benito Archundia (Mexico, rated #18, born 1966) Martin Hansson (Sweden, rated #19, born 1971) Eddy Maillet (Seychelles, rated #24, born 1967) Marco Rodriquez Moreno (Mexico, rated # 25, born 1973) Jerome Kelvin Damon (South Africa, born 1972) Yuichi Nashimura (Japan, born 1972) Joel Aquilar Chicas (El Salvador, born 1975) Michael Hester (New Zealand, born 1972) Peter O'Leary (New Zealand, born 1972) Viktor Kassai (Hungary, born 1975) Pablo Pozo (Chile, born 1973) Olegario Benquer

enca (Portugal, born 1969) Stephane Laurent Lannoy (France, born 1969) Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil, born 1965) Carlos Batres (Guatemala, born 1968) Koman Coulibaly (Mali, born 1970) Mohamed Benouza (Algeria, born 1972) Note: Benouza will not officiate in the 2010 World Cup due to one of his assistant’s failing his fitness test – see here Kahlil Al Ghamdi (Saudia Arabia, born 1970) Subkhidden Mohd Salleh (Malaysia, born 1966) EDIT: 27 May 2010 — Martín Vázquez from Uruguay has been announced as replacement for Amarilla’s Paraguayan team.

Fifa will not call in a replacement for the Benouza (Algerian) trio of referees. Referee Martin Vazquez (with assistants Carlos Pastorino & Miguel Nievas, all from Uruguay) was called in by Fifa to replace the referee trios headed by Amarilla & Benouza. The above 2010 FIFA World Cup middle referee list is provisional. Provisional in the sense that they all must pass their final hurdle, a fitness test. The World Cup African contingent of trios/referees will be evaluated at my hometown Coetzenburg Athletics Track, Stellenbosch, on 8th May under the auspices of South African FIFA co-ordinator Carlos Henriques. For a list of all the World Cup assistant referees, see here . We are not gods. We make mistakes. — Swiss referee Massimo Busacca to Greek player Basinas (Greece vs Sweden, Euro 2008) – see the critically acclaimed film, Les Arbitres . Coetzenburg Track, Stellenbosch, South Africa The FIFA World Cup is the biggest test an international referee will ever face, both professionally and personally.

Of the 29 referees representing 26 nations (Uruguay, New Zealand & Mexico have 2 middle referees each) taking charge of the 64 World Cup games in the month-long tourney in South Africa, 10 are from Europe, 6 from South America, 4 from Asia, 4 from the CONCACAF region, 3 from Africa and 2 from New Zealand. Each referee has his team of two assistants who have worked with him over many months in various FIFA international and Association tournaments, their performance and fitness constantly being monitor by the FIFA Referee Committee. During the tournament, the referees and assistants will be swathed in a protective blanket of security, locked away from the world’s prying eyes at a luxury hotel where they will be provided with a continuous healthy diet, sports psychologists to boost their confidence and video technological tools for briefing/debriefing to allow them to study the strengths, weaknesses and favourite ploys of the teams they will be officiating.

It has been a 3-year+ journey for all the pre-selected World Cup referees and after many reductions on the final referee list, countless fitness evaluations, workshops, aptitude tests and constant health & diet monitoring , these are the men that FIFA trust to control the greatest sporting event on the planet. I wish all the above FIFA referees, assistants (and their families) the very best and may your dreams be fulfilled! Have a great Whistle & Flag! Share this via: Referee Atkinson keen to 'enjoy occasion' in Warsaw - UEFA Europa League - News - UEFA.com Referee Atkinson keen to 'enjoy occasion' in Warsaw Published: Wednesday 27 May 2015, 13.00CET English referee Martin Atkinson described it as a "massive honour" to be officiating Wednesday's UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla FC and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

by Patrick Hart Published: Wednesday 27 May 2015, 13.00CET Referee Atkinson keen to 'enjoy occasion' in Warsaw English referee Martin Atkinson described it as a "massive honour" to be officiating Wednesday's UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla FC and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Read more Shock, delight, honour – that was referee Martin Atkinson's reaction to being awarded the 2015 UEFA Europa League final , and now he has come to terms with his appointment he has no doubt Wednesday's match represents the pinnacle of his officiating career. "The first reaction was shock, then absolutely delighted. It's a massive honour for me and for my family and for English refereeing. So I was shocked and then very honoured and very proud," he told UEFA.com . Related Items Story so far: Dnipro For Atkinson, his 68th UEFA assignment – FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk v Sevilla FC in Warsaw – is unquestionably the biggest yet. "The fact it's a European final, the highest I can referee, definitely!

I've been very lucky that domestically I have done all the finals in England, so to get this UEFA final is a massive honour," he explained. The Bradford-born official also becomes the fourth referee from his native Yorkshire to take charge of a European final. "It could be in the water, it could be in the tea!" Whatever the reason, Atkinson will be glad of his experience as fourth official to fellow Yorkshireman Howard Webb at the 2010 UEFA Champions League final in Madrid . "That was great to be involved, hopefully that will stand me in good stead. But I speak to Howard a lot, we've obviously spoken about this one and I'm sure we'll talk again." Clearly Webb, who retired last year, remains an influence. "I've always had targets and I've always had people I've admired. I think there's no greater role model than Howard Webb – when you look at what he's achieved, then the fact he's not even changed in the slightest from what he was ten years ago." Atkinson himself began refereeing at 15 because "we were short in the local league".

"I'm ambitious and I think once you start on the refereeing ladder, you're just looking to progress as quickly as you can," he said. "I'm very fortunate that this season has finished where it has: to finish on a major final is a massive honour." ©AFP/Getty Images Atkinson refereed the first leg, in Turin An international referee since 2006, Atkinson has handled one UEFA Europa League match and eight UEFA Champions League games this term, including the Juventus-Real Madrid CF semi-final first leg . There'll be no stage fright at the National Stadium. "I think the qualities are to be calm, to be relaxed, to enjoy the occasion," said the 44-year-old, a keen golfer. "And the big thing for us is that we're there to do a job. We're there to officiate the game and to referee it for football. It's about being calm, enjoying the occasion, but doing our job as well." To that end, he arrives in the Polish capital having studied all four semi-final matches, "looking at tactics, formations and preparing myself correctly – it's all about the build-up, making sure we're aware of the different set plays, corners, free-kicks ...

that's just the start!" Come Wednesday night he will be leading out three teams: the two finalist clubs, plus his officiating crew of assistants Michael Mullarkey – assistant to Webb in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final and the FIFA World Cup decider the same year – and Stephen Child, fourth official Pavel Královec (from the Czech Republic) and additional assistant referees Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner. "It's a very important time when you walk out, that you set the right tone. There's a little bit of nervousness, but certainly confidence when you walk out, knowing this is your game, you're in charge of this. "I'm very lucky that the two assistants I work with are top assistant referees. And the additional assistants behind the goals are both experienced match officials, so to have that security of a big team really does make it a lot more secure for me." And his hopes for the final? "That everybody comes away having enjoyed a great game of football where we've had respect towards each opponent and towards the match officials. And for us, certainly for me personally, if nobody remembers the referee then it's a job well done.

I think that's a big thing for all referees: if we come away and everybody's talking about a game of football, then fantastic. That will make my evening." ©UEFA.com 1998-2017. All rights reserved. Last updated: 02/06/15 1.40CET

Question: Name the Yorkshireman who refereed the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final?
Answer: Howard Webb