2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa to be granted host status, Nelson Mandela had previously spoken of the importance of football in his life, stating that while incarcerated in Robben Island prison playing football "made us feel alive and triumphant despite the situation we found ourselves in". With South Africa winning their bid, an emotional Mandela raised the FIFA World Cup Trophy. During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's
2010 FIFA World Cup officials 2010 FIFA World Cup officials Officials for the 2010 FIFA World Cup are selected from a pool of 30 trios of referees and assistant referees announced by the association football governing body, FIFA, on 5 February 2010. The final cut was selected from a group of 38 referees revealed in October 2008, themselves whittled down from an initial group of 54 selected for the Refereeing Assistance Programme in 2007. From the quarter-finals onwards, the pool of referees was reduced to 19. In 2007, the FIFA Executive Committee set up the Refereeing Assistance Programme (RAP) to help prepare the referees in