The 19th soccer World Cup (2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa) will be the first time that the tournament is being staged on the African continent. South Africa won the rights to host the event, edging out Morocco and Egypt in the all-African bidding process. Despite initial concerns and relocation rumours, FIFA has stood by South Africa and expressed confidence in the the ability of the hosts to stage a successful World Cup.

Even if the South Africans have managed to overcome problems related to infrastructure and logistics, it’s hardly going to be a smooth ride for the tournament. High rates of violent crime and uneasy relations between the peoples of the “Rainbow Nation” are things that could turn out to be a nightmare for the hosts and their guests from around the world. With only a little more than two months to go before the tournament kicks off, race relations have taken a sudden turn for the worse.

Eugène Terre’Blanche, the founder and leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) party, was murdered on his own farm in Ventersdorp, allegedly by two of his employees over a “wage-dispute”. Described by the mainstream media as a “white supremacist”, leader of a “far-right party” with very little support, Eugène Terre’Blanche was a hated figure for many, and some even go to the extent of claiming he deserved what he got.

However, the brutal murder of the aptly-named Terre’Blanche (which can be translated from French as “White Earth” or “White Land”) should not be seen in isolation, whether it was over a wage dispute or not. Even after the transition from the apartheid regime to a supposedly democratic government, South Africa cannot be called a peaceful country by any stretch of the imagination. Though violent crime is a terrible nightmare for all South Africans, be they White or Black or any one else, the White citizens (4.5 million or about 10% of the population) of the country, particularly the Afrikaans-speakers (Afrikaners), are at the receiving end of the most violent, horrific and brutal crimes.

Many Afrikaners feel they are being subjected to a slow, but extremely violent genocide. If the horrible farm murders are anything to go by, then their claims are certainly true. After the transition in 1994, out of 40 000 White farmers in South Africa, more than 3 000 farmers and their family members have been brutally murdered, often after being raped and/or tortured in the most horrific ways. The South African regime also supports dictator Robert Mugabe of neighbouring Zimbabwe, whose tyranny and violence against dissenters and commercial farmers led to the complete collapse of Zimbabwean society.

Genocide Watch believes the terrible violence against Afrikaner farmers constitutes warning signs of genocide. However, the international community and “mainstream media” deliberately continues to ignore these signs. Even in the event of all-out genocide against the Afrikaners (there are plenty of rumours of about “Uhuru” or a planned campaign of genocidal ethnic cleansing against White South Africans), it is unlikely that they will get any support, as all the uncivilised regimes of the Third World would band together to support a genocide taking place under a fellow Third World regime. The shameless international “mainstream media” would deliberately turn a blind eye, as they usually do.

Faced with an uncertain, violent future, many Whites (including Afrikaners) are emigrating to other countries. Others want Afrikaners to form a separate homeland called Volkstaat. Considering the fact that Eugène Terre’Blanche was planning to consolidate the AWB and make international efforts to form an Afrikaner homeland, it raises questions about his brutal murder. This comes after Julius Malema, the president of the ruling African National Congress’ Youth League sang a controversial song that included lyrics like “kill the boer”. While André Visagie of the AWB initially called the murder “a declaration of war against the Whites” and vowed to extract “revenge” for the murder, the party later retracted its stand and instructed its members not to indulge in any form of violence.

Racial tension is not the only thing that worries South Africa ahead of the World Cup. The country is plagued by extremely high levels of violent crime. The rate of assaults and murders is very high, car-jackings and armed robberies are quite common while rape is endemic in South Africa with monstrous levels of child/infant rape. The government and tournament organisers claim crime levels have seen a reduction ahead of the tournament, but the safety of soccer fans and visitors still remains a worry.

Faced with such threats, the 2010 World Cup may not attract spectators in droves as expected earlier. Many fans may feel that it’s better to watch the spectacle on television, as the risks associated with going to South Africa may be uncomfortably high.

No one doubted the potential of this team – they have a great mix of youth and experience, a cool combination of seasoned international pros and talented young Indian cricketers. But, in last year’s inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket, the team simply failed to click. All that is history now!

Gilchrist took over as the captain from VVS Laxman for this year’s IPL that was shifted to South Africa since the Indian government could not provide security for the tournament, as the dates coincided with the General Elections. It was a blessing in disguise for the League as it helped to increase its popularity beyond Indian shores. Full credit goes to Cricket South Africa for organising a fantastic tournament at a very short notice. We all look forward to the big one – the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South Africans have proved to be great organisers and wonderful hosts!

For the Chargers, it was a superb team effort that took them all the way. Gilchrist and his fellow Aussie, the DC coach Darren Lehmann have managed to bring out the best in all their boys. Young cricketers like Tirumalasetti Suman, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Harmeet Singh have proved themselves on the big stage while seasoned international pros like RP Singh (who won the Purple Cap for taking the most number of wickets in the tournament), Herschelle Gibbs, Ryan Harris and Andrew Symonds made great contributions at crucial stages to keep the charge going. Not to forget Gilly’s sterling contribution – he not only shouldered the burden of keeping wickets while leading the team, but got the Chargers’ off to a flying start with his aggressive batting as an opener. Chasing a big target in a pressure semi-final against the highly rated Delhi Daredevils, Gilchrist played the knock of the tournament, single handedly demolishing the Daredevils’ attack with his incredible hitting. It was champion stuff from a champion cricketer!

The Royal Challengers Bangalore is another team that deserves apprecation. The boys from Bengaluru (Karnataka) finished second last in the IPL 2008 and made an ordinary start in this year’s edition. Anil Kumble lifted the RCB to a new level when he took charge as skipper. The Challengers put together a string of successive victories over top teams and knocked out last year’s runners-up, the Chennai Super Kings, in the second semi-final. They lost the final narrowly to the Chargers in a pressure cooker situation.

There is no doubt about the heroes of this year’s IPL, though. It has to be the Chargers from Hyderabad! A word of praise for T. Venkattram Reddy, the DC team owner. He solidly backed his team and could be seen in the team dugout with his boys when some other team owners chose the comfort of the hospitality box. The team is owned by the Deccan Chronicle, a reputed broadsheet and South India’s largest selling English language newspaper. I guess when you are the undisputed numero uno in one field, it tends to rub off on your other business ventures too!

I look forward to watching the Deccan Chargers in action at the T20 Champions League. As the Chargers’ cheerleaders and fans say: GO, Chargers! GO, Chargers! GO, go, go, go!!! :-)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl8kw48fhjQ&hl=en&fs=1]

Thanks to Prakash for his contribution in putting this post together!

Written by An alien Earthling

An alien Earthling, a.k.a Raj, is a blogger whose interests include current affairs, technology and sports. He is an engineer by profession.