JOHANNESBURG: Long after the final whistle of the football competition, the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa took again central stage today with the official opening of the Alexandra Football for Hope Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

With this opening FIFA is nearing completion of “20 Centres for 2010”, the official social campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The aim of this initiative was to create, in co-operation with local organisations, 20 centres for education, public health and football across Africa.

“For us, hosting the first FIFA World Cup in Africa was always far more than just organising a football tournament”, said FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke at the opening event. “This is why we made a firm commitment to leave a tangible social legacy for South Africa, the entire African continent and its people. We are very proud to see this commitment become reality here in Alexandra today, putting football to work for the benefit of education and health”. You can read the full FIFA.com article here.

A further highlight was today’s World Cup Legacy Trust meeting in Johannesburg. Under the chairmanship of the South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr. Danny Jordaan, and with representatives of FIFA, SAFA, the South African government and the South African Business Community, the board assessed the progress of the first grants that were issued at the beginning of the year and set the requirements for the next phase of applications. To read more on the World Cup Legacy Trust meeting, click here.

Downloadable footage material of the official opening of the Alexandra Football for Hope Centre and the “20 Centres for 2010” Campaign in Africa will be available soon on The Newsmarket.

Editorial photo 1: Alexandra Football for Hope Centre (copyright: FIFA)
Editorial photo 2: Opening ceremony Alexandra Football for Hope Centre (copyright: FIFA)