World Cup will put SA in debt, says expert

The Soccer World Cup will not produce the big cash bonanza for South Africa that some people have predicted, says one of the world's leading sports economists, Prof Stefan Szymanski.

Szymanski, a professor at Cass Business School in London and co-author of the book Soccernomics, predicts that South Africa will find itself in the red after the World Cup.

He says countries that host big events such as the World Cup often have to borrow money or cut back on other social spending to meet the deficit.

Such events require a government guarantee, he says, and this demonstrates that they are not "ordinary profitable commercial activities".

"If they were profitable commercial activities, they would not need government funding," he says.

"There would be private investors who would be more than happy to put up the money."

Szymanski made these points during a wide ranging interview on an SAFM radio programme, The After Eight Debate, on the topic of the World Cup and its economics.

Szymanski says he feels that the World Cup will do little to put South Africa "on the map" of the tourism industry.

Szymanski's gloomy view of World Cup economics did have a brighter side, however - such a big event is good for the country's image. There is also evidence that suicide rates actually decline during major football tournaments.

He says football tournaments bring people together with attention focused on the performance of their teams.