Durban- Bierhoff robbed, former Austrian footballer slain

[E-man]

Austrian former soccer player slain on golf course ahead of 2010 draw
By CLARE NULLIS (AP)

updated 10:37 a.m. PT, Sun., Nov. 25, 2007

DURBAN, South Africa - A former Austrian soccer player was shot to death at a golf course near Durban, police said, as the city was in the international limelight for the 2010 soccer World Cup draw.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Sunday that the man, identified by police as Pieter Burgstaller, was not connected to the 3,000-strong FIFA delegation visiting Durban.

But the shooting highlighted the crime that plagues the South African host of the 2010 soccer World Cup. The country has a rate of more than 50 homicides per day.

In a separate incident, German team manager Oliver Bierhoff had his briefcase stolen on his way to breakfast Sunday at his hotel in Durban. It contained his passport and two mobile phones as well as paperwork relating to the draw.

The German embassy issued him a replacement passport immediately.

"It's upsetting and a lot of work," Bierhoff told German television. "Everything is replaceable, so it's workable."

Bierhoff said he didn't want the incident to tarnish host South Africa.

"It could happen anywhere. We didn't expect it quite so forthright, but you can never rule that out," he said. South Africa "is trying very hard _ I hope nothing else happens."

But he said that the incidents had brought home to him the very real security issues surrounding the 2010 World Cup.

"We won't be able to move so freely as we are used to at World Cup finals," he said after the draw.

He said he was "perturbed and shocked" by the death of Burgstaller, whom he had met by chance on the plane to South Africa.

Police said that Burgstaller was shot in the chest Friday while playing golf on the Selborne Estate, a golf and spa resort protected by electric fencing outside Durban. His cell phone had been stolen but no other possessions were missing.

Police spokeswoman Zandra Hechter said no arrests had been made.

The Austrian delegation said the killing cast a shadow over the star-studded draw.

"Naturally, the mood in the Austrian delegation is under a shadow," Austria's assistant trainer, Andreas Herzog, said on Germany's ARD television.

Austrian media reported that Burgstaller used to be a goalkeeper for Austria's SV Salzburg and was now head of an events management agency in Salzburg.

Police have mounted a blanket security operation this weekend in Durban, a city of 3.5 million people. 2010 organizing chief Danny Jordaan said there had been no other incidents linked to the draw.

The government insists the number of murders is coming down. Security has been highlighted as one of the biggest challenges facing the 2010 tournaments.

Blatter said the killing _ in a city of 3.5 million _ should be kept in perspective.

He cited the example of the Swiss financial capital, Zurich _ generally considered one of the world's safest cities _ where a 16-year-old girl was shot on Friday night at a streetcar station.

[Bakes]

What kinda perspective...that it shows these fools not just murdering their own (Lucky Dube)?

[superoli]

18,500 murders a year ? perspective ?

Blatter is an asshole

[Small Magician aka Wazza]

18,500 murders a year ? perspective ?

Blatter is an asshole

thank you

but lets not forget  "this is justice to a continent" 

[Observer]

18,500 murders a year ? perspective ?

Blatter is an asshole

Brazil is 55,000 pure madness dem at war

[TrinInfinite]

joberg is serious, that is joke, joberg had close to 25000 murders one year... if brazil surpass that, then brazil is one of the murder capitals in the world...easily...terrible situation

God is de BOSS....

[legal alien]

 arent south africans extremely proud of their country?they  get this chance to make africa proud now they  tryin their best to  f**k it up.   people already dnt have much faith in africa .steups.....

[asylumseeker]

And now for a bit of controversy ... they shouldn't have received the WC ... in the post-apartheid era the world has bent over backwards to accomodate South Africa despite the fact that all this crap is/was foreseeable.

I would have preferred another sub-Saharan African location.

[legal alien]

And now for a bit of controversy ... they shouldn't have received the WC ... in the post-apartheid era the world has bent over backwards to accomodate South Africa despite the fact that all this crap is/was foreseeable.

I would have preferred another sub-Saharan African location.

well at least the name south africa  is enough to telll you where it is .they are rich , and they got a very westernised population. but they need to do something about that crime

[Bakes]

And now for a bit of controversy ... they shouldn't have received the WC ... in the post-apartheid era the world has bent over backwards to accomodate South Africa despite the fact that all this crap is/was foreseeable.

I would have preferred another sub-Saharan African location.

Agreed...in part.  Everybody's been feeling extra guilty and coddling SA to an extent, but there's good reason why some of the western nations are lining up at the door...it has a bounty of natural resourses, probably the most comprehensive infrastructure in Africa, whites are very much a part of the society moreso than any other part of Africa (easier for whites and other non-blacks to assimilate) etc. etc.

FIFA also wanted a tournament in Africa and for many of the above reasons, coupled with the relative dysfunction of some of the other African nations, they made the best candidate.  My guess is only Nigeria could have seriously contended to take the games from them, but Nigeria has a host of issues itself, including rampant corruption, and un-democratic government (they're getting closer though), tribal fractionism, kidnapping of foreigners, domestic terrorism...the list goes on and on.

South Africa, from my relatively uninformed perspective is the best candidate (everything above plus the level of their football) but yeah, they really need to get their acts together where crime, poverty and AIDS is concerned.

[asylumseeker]

During the years of South Africa being in the sporting wilderness, it was West African countries flying African football high. Some of this was hidden success because the French were extracting talent as if the colonial era had not ended and most were primarily familiar with Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon on the world stage.

Meanwhile some of these West African nations and others were distinguishing themselves at youth level. And, the Arab countries on the continent had been presences as well.

I remember during the apartheid era man always used to tell me that upon the end of apartheid plenty talent would be unleashed from South Africa. I used to see some of the occasional footage in between the funeral processions and general victimisation. Ah was hopeful like anybody else.

I think the results have been less assertive than the anticipation. South African players have not set the global market afire - although they have many wicked ballers domestically there are still several social issues affecting the state of play.

South Africa getting the WC is partly a narrative of excellent diplomacy, and partly a tip of the hat to the experience of apartheid and residual benefits like some of the infrastructure established during the years of oppression.   

The axis of football in Africa has been West African and North African. South Africa more than secured 2010 on moral terms.

[Parallel example: WICB's 'engineering' of South Africa v West Indies @ Kensington to bring South Africa back into the int'l game ... Ali Bacher; Conrad Hunte etc]

Let's recall that pursuant to the model FIFA set-up with Korea-Japan, Nigeria initially wanted to host a joint-West African WC. To that end they wanted to bring aboard Ghana, Cameroon and the smaller entities Togo and Benin. Blatter sent that flying.

In retrospect bringing the other countries on board made sense in derivative economic terms and benefit. Off the top I am sure it would have been a security nightmare, but the bottom line is that South Africa was favoured ever since Blatter's determination to back Pele's call for a WC on African soil. Plus, Blatter's point - that one country's right to host didn't expand to that country inviting other's aboard - holds some liquid.

Then Nigeria FA decided to go it alone but Obasanjo's Gov't didn't back it. It is unclear whether Obasanjo really backed the joint hosting idea at all.

What is sure is that Nigeria lined up behind South Africa's bid because Mbeki did a lot of continental canvassing and Mandela was enlisted (who would have said 'no' to Mr. Mandela?).

Obviously I drew the sub-Saharan distinction to separate Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. It may not be said out loud, but there is some cynicism as to how 'genuinely African' a WC held in any of these countries would have been, but in the end, IMV, the world went for SA on terms that in some ways approximated the 'doing business' attitude that allowed many powerbrokers to turn a blind eye to SA [constructive engagement] in the apartheid years.

***
A lil word on Pele since I mentioned him above:

Nuff men like to disrespect Pele. Reference to him in a disparaging manner tends to be made about his 'prediction' that an African nation would win by 2000.

My take is: Bless! Respect to the man for bringing that kinda promotion back in de late 70s. Nuff of us in our hearts could vibes that. I see it more as an aspirational goal rather than purely blind prediction? Kinda like Smith and Carlos, the brothers who raised their fists in a power salute at the '68 Mexico Olympics. They took plenty heat, but they attracted the world's attention to a situation.

By 2010 it will have been over 30 years movement from Pele's statement to kick-off @ the opening match. It was no doubt very easy for Europeans to scoff at Pele's suggestion because they didn't take Africa seriously. Somebody show me where they now take Africa seriously and this will be my final post.

What's left to be seen is whether the cost benefit analysis properly accounted for crime and discontent?

[Bakes]

I used to see some of the occasional footage in between the funeral processions and general victimisation. Ah was hopeful like anybody else.

I think the results have been less assertive than the anticipation.

Lol@ the bolded.  And yeah...I agree with the latter point as well, that Benny McCarthy is the only SA international of note is a sad disappointment.  To be sure I'm not saying SA football is the pinnacle of African football, I think Senegal, Cameroon...and even the fading Nigeria, would have a lot to say about that. My argument simply is that the convergence of every argument you can proffer in favor of any singular African host, would point you first to South Africa before any other viable candidate.

Everything else you say makes sense and I agree with, including the machinations that surely took place behind the scenes, as well as the genuine security (the irony then of the sentiments most, myself included express in this thread) and logistic concerns.  This is probably what doomed any joint-Nigerian venture...perhaps it's my own ignorance, but I'd have to assume that from a logistic standpoint it would be even more difficult to pull off than Korea/Japan was.  I can almost guarantee you that despite the fact '02 was a tremendous success, you likely won't be seeing joint hosts again for quite some time to come.

[asylumseeker]

I can almost guarantee you that despite the fact '02 was a tremendous success, you likely won't be seeing joint hosts again for quite some time to come.

Yeah, no doubt that joint-host situation is not likely to bubble to the surface seriously anytime soon.

***
It could have been that Nigeria/Obasanjo didn't want to attract excessive scrutiny from the international community. He had his fair share of turmoil going on. Maybe there was some budgetary legitimacy in declining.

***
When saying so, I see Australia as a viable future host depending on certain conditions being realized.

They have moved from Oceania to under the Asian umbrella and ah feel they'll be scheming to get themselves set for a bid down the road.

I read that New Zealand wants to bolt from Oceania as well, and  apparently FIFA is engaged in a plan to split Asia in two and align part with Oceania. 

[Bakes]

I can almost guarantee you that despite the fact '02 was a tremendous success, you likely won't be seeing joint hosts again for quite some time to come.

Yeah, no doubt that joint-host situation is not likely to bubble to the surface seriously anytime soon.

***
It could have been that Nigeria/Obasanjo didn't want to attract excessive scrutiny from the international community. He had his fair share of turmoil going on. Maybe there was some budgetary legitimacy in declining.

***
When saying so, I see Australia as a viable future host depending on certain conditions being realized.

They have moved from Oceania to under the Asian umbrella and ah feel they'll be scheming to get themselves set for a bid down the road.

I read that New Zealand wants to bolt from Oceania as well, and  apparently FIFA is engaged in a plan to split Asia in two and align part with Oceania. 

Well Asia ent seeing another Cup fuh ah while neither...so dem could hold dat thought.  As for New Zealand bolting...whey de fack dey want to go??  Like dem is somebody.  Besides, when dem gone who go left in Oceania...de Falkland Islands?? steups

[Winnipeg Fury]

Most of my African friends (who are from Nigeria) all say that Africans do not want to admit it, but SA is much worse off now than during aparthied. 

They tell me that it is crazy dangerous and you have to be nuts to go there.

[Mose]

Most of my African friends (who are from Nigeria) all say that Africans do not want to admit it, but SA is much worse off now than during aparthied. 

They tell me that it is crazy dangerous and you have to be nuts to go there.

While I agree that the crime rate there is high, I know several people that have been there without incident. My uncle has been there on several occasions (work related) and even took his wife one time for a vacation. A friend of mine went and spent 6 months doing an internship and she's been trying to find her way back there ever since. One can get a warped perspective as to how dangerous a place really is if you only stay from the outside and listen to the bad news.