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The Long Drop

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Biggest threat to World Cup players will probably come from hooligan fans

Posted: January 28th, 2010 | By David Isaacson


Craig Bellamy of Manchester City reacts after being hit by objects thrown from the crowd during the Carling Cup Semi Final second leg match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on January 27, 2010 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Craig Bellamy of Manchester City reacts after being hit by objects thrown from the crowd during the Carling Cup Semi Final second leg match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on January 27, 2010 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Forget all the worries over security for the 2010 World Cup players in South Africa.

Their biggest threat will probably come from the type of hooligan supporters who pelted Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy with a bottle and other missiles on Wednesday night.

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness recently said that allowing SA to host the football spectacular was a big mistake because of the security issue, adding the problem was highlighted when gunmen opened fire at the Togolese soccer team in Angola.

Excuse me? That’s like saying Germany was an unsafe tourist destination because of the Serbian conflict. What happened in Angola has nothing to do with South Africa.

These two countries are separated by quite a distance. One of the sandwiched nations, Namibia, runs some 2,000km north to south.

I concede that players and tourists will have to watch out for South African crooks when out on the streets – and as long as they don’t dress like tourists and remain vigilant, they should be fine (don’t wear moonbags, don’t examine a map in a busy street, etc).

But hopefully players won’t have to endure the type of thugs who went to Old Trafford.

  
 
 

Comments

 

Qminati

January 28, 2010 at 4:50 pm

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment!

I think SAFA and doomsayers should let the British thugs (especially) know that they will meet their match in our prisons if they’re not careful about their behavious when they get here. Just ask that German clown who threatened to blow up the airport during the world cup draw…

 

TopTrendingTopics

January 28, 2010 at 10:44 pm

There were so many people talking about World Cup on Twitter that it was one of the top trending topics for a while – check out the video at http://www.joshrimer.com/nbc-s.....world-cup/ to see some of the more entertaining ones in a funny video. :-)

 

Archie

January 29, 2010 at 8:14 pm

HaHaHa. You are so funny. Get your facts straight. Bellamy was hit by a coin thrown by one supporter and the Police have arrested him.In fact Stewards in the Stadium spotted him and pointed him out. Now how does this compare with your more than 90 violent deaths (murder and culpable homocide) every day or a woman raped every 17 seconds in your Country or the fact that you have by far the highest violent assault rates in the World?
Angola has nothing to do with South Africa? Wait a minute didnt your Danny Jordaan head up a committee formed by CONCAF that found that Angola was safe? And isnt he prancing around the Planet telling the World that South Africa is safe? Can you make the connection? And you concede that Tourists shouldnt walk around the streets looking like Tourists.Does that include the Germans who were attacked and robbed at gunpoint in their room at a Cape Town Hotel on Tuesday?
Ever considered visiting a Proctologist?

 

Silversands

February 1, 2010 at 6:16 pm

I am southafrican and living in Europe now.
“africans” will not be the concern. The brits have been in recent news here regarding them being banned from attending events as they cause riot when visiting neighboring countries.
At first I thought lightly of our security but after being away for a few years my impression has changed to prefer south african soccer mentality.
“its the few that cause mayhem”

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  • About

    At the height of his sporting prowess, David Isaacson could be seen every Saturday afternoon climbing the stairs to the upper gallery of Newlands. An all-round sportsman in his younger days - he was equally awful at cricket, soccer, athletics, swimming, table tennis, tennis, judo, cycling, hockey, basketball, volleyball and touch rugby - David quickly learnt that it was much easier (and far less painful) to be an armchair critic. As a journalist he has covered three Olympic Games, infuriated several sports administrators, reported on numerous other events and irritated Butana Komphela.
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