S.Africans cheer Cup bid victory

International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) President Joseph S. Blatter announced Saturday that South Africa is to organize the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Blatter made the announcement at the World Trade Center in Zurich, Switzerland after a secret ballot of the 24-man Executive Committee of world football's governing body.

South Africa has beaten the other two candidates -- Egypt, Morocco -- to be the first African nation to host one of the world's most popular sporting events.

Once Africa was chosen as the first to kick-off the continental rotation of the FIFA World Cup, its 52 associations were invited to submit bids.

From October 2003 to the end of January 2004, FIFA's inspection committee visited Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia to assess the merits of the five nations left in the race.

On Friday, the five delegations arrived in Zurich to make final presentations, attempting to convince Executive Committee members that their submission was the best.

However, Libya's bid was stood down by FIFA on Saturday because it did not meet the criteria while Tunisia pulled out of the campaign on Friday after being refused the option of co-hosting the event with Libya.

Then, on that evening, the 24 members retired to consider the proposals and once again on Saturday morning before a secret ballot was carried out to decide the chosen nation.

Africans revel for winning World Cup bid

Tens of thousands South Africans across the country reveled on Saturday noon immediately after their country's name was announced in Zurich as the host of the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament.

About 2,500 revellers on Mary Fitzgerald square in Johannesburg collected for joy on Saturday the moment FIFA President Sepp Blatter opened the envelope that revealed South Africa had won the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The crowd jumped with joy, madly waving South African flags and blowing Vuvuzela horns. Some hugged each other and some shed tears of joy.

Prior to the announcement, the excitement mounted rapidly and people wildly applauded former president Nelson Mandela, Anglican archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu and President Thabo Mbeki whenever they appeared on the big-screen television at the one end of the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown.

Huge screens erected in Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and other places also conveyed the historic moment that the World Cup event comes to the African soil for the first time.

Many of the children that accompanied their parents to the square had their faces painted in colors of the South African national flag.