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Tim Noonan

The world has been forced to sit up and take notice of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing because no games, in fact very few sports related events ever, have garnered this much hype. The reason is fairly simple. These are not merely the Beijing Olympic Games.

This is nothing less than the official coming-out party for the new Chinese empire.

On August 8, 2008, the flame will be officially lit at the opening ceremonies in Beijing and the world will be changed forever by the most significant sporting event in the history of mankind. At least that is the official line around these parts.

Personally, I am not even sure if this is the most significant sporting event in the next three years.

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but the Olympics have been eclipsed by soccer's World Cup as the one event with global cachet where the planet shuts down to watch.

Yes, the Beijing Olympics are extremely important and the stakes are high because China has to show the world they can host an event of this magnitude. But do you think the stakes are higher in China than in South Africa over the running of the 2010 World Cup?

China is on its way to becoming the biggest economy in the world. Its neighbours in Japan and South Korea have already hosted both the Olympic Games and the World Cup and China currently plays host to Formula One races as well as major tennis and golf tournaments and NBA games.

The notion of big-time sporting events and athletes is no longer alien to the Orient. Africa, however, is truly the last frontier.

There is no way that any country in the interior of Africa could welcome the world right now because there is not a part of the world that remotely compares to the impoverished state of the Dark Continent. Not even the poorest countries in Asia and South America come close to the misery and suffering in Africa, where life expectancy is below 40 years of age.

Throw in the perpetual state of anarchy in a region that is rich in precious resources but poor in the allocation of them, and Africa is truly the heartache of humanity.

Although South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1995, that event pales in comparison to the magnitude of soccer's World Cup.

This is the big show and don't think for a moment that the suits at Fifa are not sweating their decision to bring their billion dollar tournament to Africa.

While South Africa is arguably the most stable country in Africa, it's all relative. The country averages 50 murders and thousand more acts of random lawlessness daily. Obviously, security is issue number one for the World Cup and rightfully so.

But infrastructure is also a huge concern as dilapidated airports and rail lines are frantically upgraded while a slew of new hotels and bed and breakfasts are also being built for the unprecedented arrival of visitors.

Construction of new stadiums and renovations of older ones is finally under way, but there is absolutely no margin for work delay left despite the tournament being three years away.

While there is worry in some parts of the soccer world, Fifa recently issued blanket denials that alternative host countries were being discussed.

This past week, Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the 2010 organising committee, said that he wants other African countries to play a large role in the continent's first World Cup largely because of South Africa's problem accommodating such huge numbers.

He has asked Fifa to allow some of the teams to set up their home base in neighbouring countries like Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland.

However, it is one particular neighbour to the north that has both Fifa and South Africans worried.

Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe is a ruthless tyrant whose reign of terror has made his country an international pariah. Back in 2000, Mugabe began forcibly and violently evicting white land owners as well as quelling any sort of opposition to his rule.

According to reports from a number of neutral observers, his victory in a 2003 election was completely rigged and he has spent a great deal of time and resources hunting down those who oppose him.

An estimated three million Zimbabweans have fled to South Africa to escape Mugabe's clutches and their influx into that country is often sighted by natives as the real reason for the huge upsurge in crime and violence in South Africa.

A number of European countries have expressed concern about the spread of lawlessness on the South African border and its effect on the World Cup.

The idea of one of those countries setting up their home base for a month in Zimbabwe is a total non-starter. And yet, Zimbabwe is being mentioned for just such a role by some South African government sources.

It is just one more highly contentious issue that organisers are being forced to deal with.

Meanwhile, China builds one iconic facility after another for its upcoming games. And why not? They have more money in the bank than any other country, with US$1.2 trillion in foreign reserves.

That will not change regardless of what happens during the Beijing Olympics.

But if there is any hope for the future of Africa, much of it is pinned on the successful hosting of the World Cup in 2010.

'We cannot afford to fail,' said South Africa's Jordaan, and it's so true.

While China needs to get it right, South Africa has to get it right.

