Official 2010 slogan revealed

“Ke Nako” means simply "it's time". And, indeed, Africa's time has come to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup to change perceptions of Africa and reposition the continent in a positive light with South Africa as the theatre and Africa the stage.

Said Khoza, “Given that we have been granted this huge opportunity to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2010 by you our friends, many of whom are here today, we felt it appropriate that we develop a message, a theme that would resonate with the objectives of the global football family as well as the intentions and ambitions of the African diaspora.

“In the development of this slogan – our 2010 message – we were also inspired by the outpouring of excitement and joy that we witnessed from villages and cities across the continent when president Blatter announced the name ‘South Africa' on 15 May 2004. To best capture these sentiments we as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa have decided that the slogan of the first FIFA World Cup on the African continent should be ‘Ke Nako. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'.”

3000 delegates

The draw was attended by President Thabo Mbeki, and FIFA president Joseph S Blatter, as well as 3000 delegates from FIFA member countries from all around the world. Mbeki has said repeatedly, “We want, on behalf of our continent, to stage an event that will send ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo – an event that will create social and economic opportunities throughout Africa. We want to ensure that one day, historians will reflect upon the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict. We want to show that Africa's time has come.”

Also announced at the draw yesterday, according to Business Day, was New York-listed Indian IT company Satyam Computer Services' appointment as one of the six official FIFA World Cup sponsors. Satyam will be the official IT services provider to the 2010 and 2014 world cups. The three other confirmed sponsors are Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's and MTN. “Sponsorship is the second level of Fifa's three-tier commercial hierarchy, which consists of six ‘partners' at the top end, six ‘sponsors' and six ‘national supporters'.”

Launched as well was the ‘‘20 centres for 2010'' initiative, reports The Times: “By the end of the 2010 World Cup, FIFA aims to have raised about 10-million [sic] to build 20 ‘Football for Hope' centres across Africa. Five of the centres will be in South Africa and the other 15 will be spread across the continent.”

For more:

• Business Day: World Cup gets down to business
  
• The Times: Fifa launches its centres for hope