The yes vote carries it

A straw poll of professional people - 57 in total - including company secretaries, lawyers, company executives and corporate consultants produced some interesting results concerning the Fifa Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2010.

They formed part of a product announcement presentation organized by Computershare, who were talking about a new electronic voting system, they unveiled last year.

Seven questions were asked: On the issue of security the majority of attendees said that security would not be an issue. And whether crime would deter soccer tourists, the votes showed that there may be a negative impact.

On the question of whether the country would have the infrastructure in place, the 'yes' vote was marginally carried.

On whether Bafana Bafana would reach round two - the vote was a positive one. Perhaps more interestingly, the question on whether Cape Town should invest in a new stadium, or rather upgrade the Newlands stadium, the votes showed that an upgrade would make more sense, for a marginal sport like soccer.

Perhaps the most telling issue was the price of tickets for local supporters. The majority of those who voted said that high ticket prices would deter people from attending.

Editor's thoughts:
* Football is huge, the investment required to make it a success is huge, whether local business people will benefit from the event remains to be seen.
* Is this an opportunity to get involved in property development or investments for accommodation for those soccer tourists - quite possibly.