Soaring on a wave of praise for hosting one of the greatest World Cups in history, South Africa says it is now ready to tackle an even bigger challenge: the first Olympics on African soil.

It would be a hugely expensive gamble, a challenge that has nearly bankrupted other countries. Yet after the extraordinary success of the World Cup over the past month, a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games could be the next natural step for South Africa, and for the African continent.

Just a few weeks ago, critics were portraying South Africa as a crime-ridden country where foreign soccer fans would be attacked by machete-wielding gangs, mugged in the streets or, at a minimum, lost in transport chaos. None of those gloomy predictions came true.

South Africa had the resilience and pragmatism, and the first-world infrastructure, to pull off a triumphant World Cup with verve and cheerfulness. Most observers are now calling this one of the best World Cups in history, largely because of the enthusiasm of the host country and its people. With 3.2 million spectators, and huge television audiences, it boasted the second-highest attendance – and greatest profits – of any World Cup in history.

With the soccer tournament over, the South Africans are keen to capitalize on this momentum. This is a sports-crazy country, yearning for more of the nation-building campaigns that the World Cup provided, and now it is chock full of the highways, airports, hotels and spectacular stadiums that would bolster an Olympic bid.

A bid for the 2020 Olympics would be daunting. The summer Games would be massively expensive for a developing country to host – a cost that has proven nearly back-breaking even for wealthier countries like Greece – and the organizational pressures would be exponentially heavier than a soccer tournament. South Africa’s bid would be competing with well-funded cities like Rome, Tokyo, Madrid and possibly Toronto.

But now, with the World Cup to boost their prospects, South Africa’s Olympic organizers have quietly mapped out their plan. Over the next few months, they will consult widely among political and business leaders to ensure that their plan has support. Then they must choose their Olympic candidate city from three options: Cape Town, Durban or Johannesburg. Finally they will gear up their bid book and their lobbying machinery, targeting their efforts at a key meeting of the International Olympic Committee scheduled to be held in Durban next July. Everything will culminate in 2013 when the IOC chooses the host of the 2020 Games.

A careful look at Durban’s gorgeous new Moses Mabhida stadium, the site of a World Cup semifinal last week, reveals that an Olympic bid was a big part of the hidden agenda for the new architecture. Soccer fans were pushed back from each end of the stadium to make room for a track oval – exactly the correct size for Olympic track events. On its official website, Durban points out that the stadium has “the potential to expand to 85,000 seats to meet the requirements of large-scale events such as the Olympic Games.”

The IOC’s president, Jacques Rogge, has already said that he would welcome a South African bid. The entire sports world is “very happy” at the success of the World Cup in South Africa, he said on Saturday after a meeting with South Africa President Jacob Zuma.

Mr. Zuma has also declared that his country is ready for the Olympics. “I’m sure we could do it,” he said this month. “I will put it on the agenda. I don’t see why we can’t bid to host the Olympics in the future. It’s important for Africa.”

And FIFA president Sepp Blatter, head of the governing body for world soccer, says he would “fully support” a South African bid for the Olympics.

But persuading the IOC’s voting delegates won’t be easy. The Summer Olympics can be an organizational nightmare, far more complex and intensive than a World Cup, with up to 10 or 15 events happening simultaneously on each of its 16 days.

Brazil, another developing country, surprised the skeptics by winning the 2016 Olympics for its candidate city, Rio de Janeiro. But Brazil is far bigger and more powerful than South Africa, even if it shares some of the same issues of poverty and crime, and it will have greater resources to handle the Olympic costs.

Those costs can be enormous. The Olympics require dozens of venues, from basketball arenas and swimming pools to velodromes and equestrian venues, along with an Olympic Village for 20,000 athletes, and they must be located within a compact area. For the 2012 Olympics, for example, London has a budget of $13.3-billion – nearly triple the South African budget for the World Cup. Another developed country, Greece, spent nearly $11-billion on the 2004 Olympics (at current exchange rates) plus another $1.2-billion for security costs, and the burden was one of the contributing factors in Greece’s financial crisis that nearly bankrupted the country this year.

Each of the potential South African bidding cities has disadvantages too. Durban, with a population of 3.5 million, has good infrastructure and a warm climate on the Indian Ocean, but it has some of the worst crime and poverty in the country. And its organizational weaknesses were exposed last week when 500 soccer fans missed the semi-final because of chaos at Durban airport, where private VIP jets refused to make room for incoming passenger jets.

Cape Town has a spectacular location of mountains and ocean, along with a beautiful new stadium, but it failed in its bid for the 2004 Olympics and might lack the population base to support the Olympic venues. Johannesburg, the third option, has plenty of stadiums and a big population but is located at high altitude, a potential problem for Olympic athletes, and lacks the natural beauty of Cape Town and Durban.

Despite all of these pitfalls, South Africa now has the momentum and the global branding to make it a powerful contender for the Olympics. The IOC meeting in Durban next year, when the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be chosen, could be a huge boost for the South African bid. “This is quite simply a masterstroke, ensuring that all IOC members and their spouses will be exposed to the city – and hence be able to draw on personal experience should they ever be required to assess its suitability as an Olympic host,” wrote David Owen, a blogger who specializes in global sports.

Some analysts suggest that a South African city would have a better chance of winning the Olympics in 2024, allowing the Summer Games to go to a safe choice in a wealthier country in 2020 after the Rio Games. But whenever its bid reaches a vote, it will have one huge advantage: the lure of history.

After the 2016 Games in Brazil, Africa will become the only continent that has never hosted the Olympics. The IOC, just like FIFA, will find it difficult to resist the temptation of entering the history books.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/now-that-the-games-are-over-let-the-games-begin-in-south-africa/article1636312/

Please When we Naija Host something this Great! ??

Only South Africa clearly has the infrastructure to hold to Olympics which is an even bigger event than the world cup.

abeg if person won host olympics let it be tunisia. south africa did a good job but we cannot let them host again vuvuzela was a total disgrace

and how are you sure they wont use vuvuzela in tunisia?

12large:

abeg if person won host olympics let it be tunisia. south africa did a good job but we cannot let them host again[b] vuvuzela was a total disgrace[/b]

Did you go to europe's fan park during the tournament and see who else was blowing the Vuvu?I mentioned europe because I know that you are one of those blacks with inferiority complex syndrome.Anything black is bad,but when a whiteman do it,it is perfect.

For me Vuvusela was a statement,we were sending a message,we were moving away from a certain culture,we were creating our own,our own atmosphere.And this excrcise tought us that you have to believe in your own things,even when people hate you for that keep the faith and one day your haters/enemies will turn into friend and embrace you for who you are.

abeg what kiind of yeye atmosphere is that, you could not differenciate who the fans is supporting because of those useless vcuvuzelas, and worst of all empty stadium anyway the worldcup was a big success but vuvuzelas and jabulani is what peoiple would remember this tornament about

snowdrops:

Only South Africa clearly has the infrastructure to hold to Olympics which is an even bigger event than the world cup.

Lie Lie. One city with the support of its government can do it. Abuja can host the Olympics. Why not, except for corruption. SA is not sooooo developed, and most of its people are poor. Yet they did the damn thang, hosted a successful World Cup

oga snowfrops e be like sey you don mental, which abuja fit host olympics, you want make hausa people kill everybody abeg shut up

12large:

oga snowfrops e be like sey you don mental, which abuja fit host olympics, you want make hausa people kill everybody abeg shut up

I am literally laughing out loud at this comment. Between the hostility and the fact that 12Large is addressing the wrong person, I've completely lost it.

mens dept:

Lie Lie. One city with the support of its government can do it. Abuja can host the Olympics. Why not, except for corruption. SA is not sooooo developed, and most of its people are poor. Yet they did the damn thang, hosted a successful World Cup

London is hosting the next olympics but that does not mean the events are restricted to the city of London. Many other cities would be hosting various events as well.

Another important factor is infracstruture. Not only stadia, but roads, hospitals, hotels, security, constant lights and water as well as full government backing. If you cant guaranty any of these i am sorry there is no way Abuja can host an Olympics. All Africa games maybe.

mens dept:

Lie Lie. One city with the support of its government can do it. Abuja can host the Olympics. Why not, except for corruption. SA is not sooooo developed, and most of its people are poor. Yet they did the damn thang, hosted a successful World Cup

12large:

oga snowfrops e be like sey you don mental, which abuja fit host olympics, you want make hausa people kill everybody abeg shut up

Guy i would consider that an oversight.

Travelista:

I am literally laughing out loud at this comment. Between the hostility and the fact that 12Large is addressing the wrong person, I've completely lost it.

Infact i dont know whether to fall down laughing as well or blow into a rage

Any country from AFRICA to host the olympic is fine by me except naija

So why can't Naija host it? @yousouph

So why can't Naija host it? @yousouph

Ruq:

So why can't Naija host it? @yousouph

Maybe because they cant even host a primary school games!!
and Nigerians are so sensitive! the BBC and other international media would bombard Nigeria with documentaries
just a couple of BBC photodocumentaries is giving Nigerians sleepless nights
You should have seen what one Scottish newspaper wrote about Nigerian when Abuja was shortlisted to host the commonwealth games

legacies of pasts games like NUGA, All Africa games and the recently concluded under 19 tournament says it all really
where are the stadia and facilities now? the generators? the team buses

Maybe in 2020 we can host like a world basketball competition or Hockey tournament sha! we are not ready for the world yet!

Lie Lie.   One city with the support of its government can do it. Abuja can host the Olympics. Why not, except for corruption. SA is not sooooo developed, and most of its people are poor. Yet they did the damn thang, hosted a successful World Cup

What a load of clap-trap…. What you could get away with, with a soccer world cup you cant get away with at the Olympic games, to host the Olympic Games is a different animal because it’s a city that hosts the games not the country (thou with the government support). You would need to build a new Olympic village that would accommodate between 10000 – 20000 athletes, a new stadium, a cycling dome, swimming pool, indoor arena etc… am sorry but the City on Montreal that hosted the 1976 games just finish paying their debts, Beijing had to put aside £21bn, the London Olympic predicted £2.3bn just win the bid, then it doubled, now they have budgeted 9.3bn despite the fact that most of the arenas are going to be dismantled and shipped to Brazil for the 2016 games. South Africa would have to build an Olympic village from Scratch…,

Naija should not bid host the olympic because its will only enrich few out of millions Nigerians.  

Dis Guy:

Maybe because they cant even host a primary school games!!
and Nigerians are so sensitive! the BBC and other international media would bombard Nigeria with documentaries
just a couple of BBC photodocumentaries is giving Nigerians sleepless nights
You should have seen what one Scottish newspaper wrote about Nigerian when Abuja was shortlisted to host the commonwealth games

legacies of pasts games like NUGA, All Africa games and the recently concluded under 19 tournament says it all really
where are the stadia and facilities now? the generators? the team buses

Maybe in 2020 we can host like a world basketball competition or Hockey tournament sha! we are not ready for the world yet!

Dis Guy:

Maybe because they cant even host a primary school games!!
and Nigerians are so sensitive! the BBC and other international media would bombard Nigeria with documentaries
just a couple of BBC photodocumentaries is giving Nigerians sleepless nights
You should have seen what one Scottish newspaper wrote about Nigerian when Abuja was shortlisted to host the commonwealth games

legacies of pasts games like NUGA, All Africa games and the recently concluded under 19 tournament says it all really
where are the stadia and facilities now? the generators? the team buses

Maybe in 2020 we can host like a world basketball competition or Hockey tournament sha! we are not ready for the world yet!

we definately need a saviour!

omar22:

What a load of clap-trap…. What you could get away with, with a soccer world cup you cant get away with at the Olympic games, to host the Olympic Games is a different animal because it’s a city that hosts the games not the country (thou with the government support). You would need to build a new Olympic village that would accommodate between 10000 – 20000 athletes, a new stadium, a cycling dome, swimming pool, indoor arena etc… am sorry but the City on Montreal that hosted the 1976 games just finish paying their debts, Beijing had to put aside £21bn, the London Olympic predicted £2.3bn just win the bid, then it doubled, now they have budgeted 9.3bn despite the fact that most of the arenas are going to be dismantled and shipped to Brazil for the 2016 games. South Africa would have to build an Olympic village from Scratch…, 

"Clap-Trap. How childish.Nonsense. How can any person with sense compare the Olympics to the World Cup. How can you compare one city to a nation? "You need to build, you need, " Naija people know it all lol. I'm sure you don't even know how to produce a proposal for a major tournament in your LGA.

Abuja can host an Olympics in the same manner that South Africa-contrary to many inferiority complexed persons thought otherwise- did, Nigeria can host whatever she wanted to host, yet it doesnt because of political issues. Yet, if we are talking about an "African" Olympics, I dont see why Abuja (a city built with more than what others' have "budgeted for tournaments) isn't among Africa's top potential spots.

Abuja can host an Olympics in the same manner that South Africa-contrary to many inferiority complexed persons thought otherwise- did,  Nigeria can host whatever she wanted to host, yet it doesnt because of political issues. Yet, if we are talking about an "African" Olympics, I dont see why Abuja (a city built with more than what others' have "budgeted for tournaments) isn't among Africa's top potential spots.

Abuja failed a commonwealth bid, lost to Glasgow of all cities speaks volume,  do you know how much it cost to host the event,  We are talking about the same country that struggled to land the World U-17 tournament, squibbling on how much the camera cost despite the fact that most of the stadium were in place. Now with the olympic you would have to start from SCRATCH,  this would include building either a new airport, railway system etc. you need to wake up,  quick

When Teslim Balogun stadium was commisioned in 1985 and was completed around 1998 or 99, That says alot,

@Omar22 so hosting an Olympics cost that much?, that china still owe debts? If its like that them i doubt if we can ever host a world event.

Nigeria(abuja) 2 host olympics? Good lord knows that d day i hear Nigeria is putting up a bid 4 d olympics,I'll lead a "demi-coup". . .Nigerians r suffering and yet u want 2 use d olympics 2 produce a minimum of 20 billionaires. . .

Ruq:

Please When we Naija Host something this Great! ??

when ur politicians stops "saving" the country's money in their agbada.

@Omar22 so hosting an Olympics cost that much?, that china still owe debts? If its like that them i doubt if we can ever host a world event.

China (Beijin) doesnt owe any debt because they have the wealth, they had to put aside around £21bn, but London are still scratching their head about the 2012, think about where to cut back, Now some quarters are regretting that they wish the city of Paris should have won it,

Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg are considered possible bid cities for the 2020 Olympics Games.

Abuja? We will kidnapp IOC Presido.

south africa is capable of hosting world biggest events, to argue about that is just a waste of tym. i have read a lot of posts about SA, i am a south african , i have grown up in villages and i have done my studies ( primary to tertiary) there, i have never spend a week in gauteng, to you its like south africa is joburg, no! SA is a big country, were i stay there is very little or no crime, there is clean tap water wich we dont pay for, all the houses r electrified, there r schools private and public ones, there r apolo lights, hospital, health centre and clinics. this is a village that is situated in one of the poorest provinces in SA limpopo. i have an honours degree and a good paying job in the same villages of my birth. this country is realy alive with possibility, u can say watever you want about it but u wont take anything away from it, am not takin anything from nigeria though because i know that those comments are individual comments not nigerian comments, i love u gyz peace.