An "ex ante" valuation of South Africa’s ability to host the 2010 Fifa world cup

South Africa is set to stage the 2010 Federation de Internationale Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. The purpose of this article is to evaluate South Africa's ability to host the event in terms of an ex ante survey of the perceptions held by international respondents, as well as a secondary data analysis of the requirements to host such a mega-event. The results reveal an unstable evaluation that could either move in a more positive or negative direction and socio-economic results over-time.