Newsdesk - S.Africa's Cup of Nations Milestone; Europe Debt Crisis May Hurt Qatar 2022
July 4, 2012
(WFI) It’s now less than 200 days to go until the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Host country South Africa marked the milestone on Tuesday by unveiling the local brand and corporate identity for the biennial showpiece as well as a countdown clock to the January 19 kickoff.
“The tournament theme of ‘The Beat at Africa’s Feet’ is born out of the creative rationale which is informed by the way African play and celebrate brilliance in football,” reads a statement from the Confederation of African Football.
“The theme for the look and feel is informed by the fact that football is like a dance played with the feet to a precision and to a beat that can only be kept by the heartbeat pumped by adrenalin and accompanied by music that is the roar of the fans,” explains CAF, adding that South Africa is at the “feet” of Africa.
Tuesday’s ceremony also coincided with the arrival of CAF secretary general Hicham El Amrani and 1st VP Suketu Patel for a host city inspection.
The delegation will also oversee Thursday’s draw for the final qualifiers to determine which 15 teams will join South Africa for the Jan. 19-Feb. 10, 2013 finals.
Europe’s Debt Crisis Cuts Into Qatar?
Qatar’s banks could struggle to finance the massive infrastructural overhaul required ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.
An artist's rendering of a proposed 86,000-seat stadium in the new city of Lusail. (Qatar 2022)
That’s if Europe’s worsening debt crisis creates a “flight from risk” and “less-favorable conditions” for acquiring loans, the Gulf state’s General Secretariat for Development Planning said in a June report.
Qatar is busy delivering nine new stadia for the FIFA finals as well as a spate of transport and infrastructure improvements, including a $35 billion rail and metro line as well as a $7.4 billion port.
A discrepancy in the speed with which loans and deposits are growing “leaves Qatar dependent on foreign financing to bridge the funding gap,” Nick Stadtmiller, head of fixed-income research at Dubai-based Emirates NBD PJSC, was quoted Monday by Bloomberg.
“If European banks start to cut the credit they extend abroad, it could make longer term financing harder to get.”
Qatar is set to spend an estimated $130 billion on stadia and infrastructure over the next decade, according to Bloomberg.
By INSIDER's Matthew Grayson
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