2010 FIFA World Cup is SA's greatest party - LOC

“Don't wait for an invitation to come to your great own party. We tried hard to earn it and it now belongs to all South Africans,” Carstens said yesterday, speaking at the Annual Conference hosted by Future Publishing in Illovo.

“Take emotional ownership of the event, yourself, your company and your industry, and it will change your mindsets, he added.

“Get excited, get into the vibe, set up competitions and get informed and follow what is happening with the draw. Find out who is coming here and who is not coming.

“Set up competitions at the workplace, use the event to rally staff and build morale and fly the flag. Football is an amazingly bonding thing,” he said, and then he issued a warning...

“But don't waste your time, energy and money on ambush marketing; it is not in the spirit of the game. You will be busted.”

With fewer than 200 days before the kick off, the 2010 World Cup fever continues to mount not only across SA, but also across the African continent - a place often depicted by Western media as the epicentre of crime, women abuse, poverty, hunger, ‘eternal war', dictatorship and corruption.

Get involved - even try a vuvuzela

However, many observers believe Africans are willing to forget their ‘unending' misery for a while to rally behind SA - the unlikely stage of the world's biggest soccer showpiece.

Reports from north of Limpopo suggest that many Africans are vowing to do ‘whatever it takes' to buy World Cup tickets to travel to SA next year.

Carstens urged delegates to buy tickets, don the Bafana shirt every Friday and celebrate in anticipation of the event.

“Get your lips around the vuvuzelas. The Japanese and the Spanish can say what they want but we don't care - that is our spirit of celebration.

“Host a public viewing event wherever you are. Do outdoor deals now for post-2010. Outdoor is a powerful medium. Enjoy the jol -when it is gone it is gone, and think how you can fill the post-2010 void.”

The third phase of 2010 tickets sale is due to start on 5 December and end on 22 January 2010.

Go to www.fifa.com.