EDITORIAL: Africa's first World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup that was to kick off Friday is a monthlong spectacle that will electrify the entire world. South Africa hosts this World Cup, the first held in Africa.

This is, however, not a simple sports event. Throughout the period, media from around the world will send out huge amounts of information not only about the teams and their matches but also about the host nation and other contesting countries.

Intense media coverage of the World Cup will help create various new images for countries and areas that have not attracted much international attention. This is, in a sense, a contest of "soft power" among countries.

From this point of view, the World Cup in South Africa has a special significance. Soccer played an important role in this country's modern history.

During the era of apartheid, the brutal system of segregation that denied basic rights to the country's black majority, political prisoners locked up in Robben Island, an island prison off Cape Town, formed their own soccer league.

They negotiated with prison authorities for years to get permission for the project while suffering constant violence from prison guards. South African President Jacob Zuma was the captain of one of the teams.

Soccer provided a psychological support for the inmates, helping them live through the harsh prison life with dignity.

Many of the Robben Island inmates who organized the prison soccer league later assumed important positions within the government, including such Cabinet posts as defense minister and sports minister. Some of them are involved in the operation of the World Cup.

Former President Nelson Mandela, who was detained in the isolated wing of the prison and barred from playing in the games, would follow the results of the games with great interest and listen to live radio broadcasts of the World Cups.

Mandela casts this World Cup as an event of the entire African continent. He has said South Africa has received the honor of holding the World Cup as Africa's host country.

Africa is undergoing many significant changes.

The continent is still plagued by a raft of deep-seated problems, such as regional and ethnic conflicts and rampant poverty. Some countries in Africa have all the hallmarks of failed states.

On the other hand, there are also encouraging signs of progress toward democracy and market economies in the continent.

This year happens to be the 50th anniversary of the so-called Year of Africa, or 1960, when 17 African nations, including such World Cup competitors as Cameroon, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, achieved their independence from Western colonial rule.

South Africa, the only African member of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies despite its long list of social and economic ills, including a vast gap between rich and poor and a dismal public security situation, certainly represents Africa's struggles to carve out a better future for itself.

We hope South Africa and the other African countries will project their soft power to the full extent. If they attract global attention and the entire Africa shares in the excitement, there will be new momentum for change.

The favorites in this World Cup include Spain and Brazil, which is hoping to win its sixth title.

Let's enjoy the marvelous techniques and skills of the best players in the world, such as Lionel Messi of Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, while praying for good performance from the Japanese side.

Immerse yourself in the joy of watching the great power of sports for one month until the final game on July 11.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 11