afrol News, 23 November - South Africa is undoubtedly on a sound footing to host Africa's first FIFA World Cup in 201, a research reveals.

The research, conducted by Kuper Research, proved that South Africans are overwhelmingly confident that their country is set to stage an excellent World Cup. It was part of the National Perception Audit conducted for International Marketing Council (IMC) of South Africa.

The results were published ahead of preliminary draw, the first official event of the 2010 event in Durban.

Yvonnee Johnston, the CEO of IMC said the result "shows that there is an overwhelming sense of optimism and pride in South Africa, which will serve us well as we count down the days to the 2010 Fifa World Cup."

Of the 2,500 South African adults surveyed, 90% believed the country would stage a successful event ,while 87% thought it would have a positive impact on international perceptions of the country.

Besides, 85% were confident that the World Cup benefits would go beyond 2010, 82% believed it would improve the lives of many South Africans.

The latest survey result was similar to those of an earlier study conducted by African Response, which also proved a remarkable improvement in the overall public confidence in the country's readiness to host the world's football jamboree.

At least 1,200 people from Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban took part in the African Response research earlier this year.

African Response Director, Anina Maree, described the outcome of the survey result as "heart-warming" because 85% of the respondents were confident that South Africa stood to benefit from the 2010 World Cup.

Interestingly, four out of five respondents said the event is important to them personally.

South Africa's 2010 Organising Committee officials have been confident of stagging a second-to-none World Cup because of the high level of preparations.

However, concerns have been raised about the high level of crimes in South Africa. The government was therefore asked to contain crimes.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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