DR. AARON (ALI) BACHER was in the vanguard, lobbying hard, to end South Africa's isolation from international cricket. He kept the game alive and kicking in the country during its two-decade banishment and as Managing Director of the United Cricket Board South Africa (UCBSA) was closely involved with the development process in the disadvantaged areas and also directly monitored events related to the South African national team.
Once South Africa was awarded the 2003 World Cup, the UCBSA chose Dr. Bacher to lead the nation to organise a big event which will project South Africa as a great nation.
Dr. Bacher's office has moved from the premises of 'The Wanderers Club' to a plush one, not far away from the UCBSA's at Melvill Road. The Sportstar interviewed him over lunch at an Indian restaurant, 'Sai Palace,' at Grayston Drive, Sandton.
Question: The 2003 World Cup is not far away. Things must be happening at a hectic pace.
Answer: Well, it's about 16 months away. And I am very happy with the way things are moving. We really want this to be seen as a very special event for South Africa and very special for world cricket. We have an organising committee with 15 people, probably we will end up with 22, all committed to work seven days a week for this World Cup. We want a trouble free World Cup and a well organised one too.
What's going to make this event so special for South Africa?
We want the South African people to feel proud that they are part of this great event. I went to Sydney for the Olympics and it was fantastic. Not only was it so brilliantly organised, but also the Australian people were so proud to be part of this very special Olympic event. They had about 47,000 volunteers. I spoke to 50 of them and what they said was that two years before the Olympics they had decided to take two weeks' leave and do their bit for their country.
There is no history of volunteers here. One of the legacies we want to leave is the volunteers culture. We have started the process whereby, we will train quality people, who will do their part in the Cup.
For example, the ushers in the grounds. We will have both black and white South Africans to proudly make a contribution to this event.
The other thing is that we are going to establish 50 grassroot cricket ovals in the disadvantaged areas so that in 10 years time people who come to South Africa will be able to appreciate the top class infrastructure we were able to put in such areas. This would leave another legacy from the World Cup.
The third legacy is that we are very strong on empowering black people. They will be in the organisation part of the event. They will also benefit financially. In previous major sporting international events in this country, only the whites got benefited. No company has been awarded an association or contract for the World Cup without having demonstrated to our committee their commitment to significantly empower the black people.
The question of black empowerment, is not only about blacks benefiting commercially, but also by the transfer of skills from white to black, because the whites have been at an advantage. The whites have certain skills and expertise which the blacks don't have. What will happen after the World Cup is that the black people will have the knowhow or expertise to do things on their own.
For example, 'Rushmans', have been appointed as the Media Accreditation Company, but there is one condition. (Unfortunately there was not a South African company that could handle an event of this magnitude). The condition is that Rushmans will have to engage two black companies in a joint venture. After the World Cup, should there be a major global event in South Africa, we don't have to go overseas. These two black companies would have learned to do on their own. So South Africa's World Cup will be focussing on transferring skills and developing people, mainly the blacks.
Would you say a similar pattern will be reflected in the opening ceremony and other official functions of the World Cup?
We want the opening ceremony to be spectacular. It's going to be in Cape Town. That's going to have an African theme. We want Africa to come alive from the cricketing point of view. We have an idea to hold a road show, starting six weeks before the event, in almost all major parts of Africa where the event is going to be played. And when it happens in Cape Town, we want to take the whole country with us.
Cape Town is a very special place. It's a beauty, the parliament is there. There was no interference from the Government, it was the organising committee's decision.
You have talked about the event leaving legacies and empowerment of the black community, but what's going to make it something special for South Africa?
The first thing from our side is that we want 42 million South Africans to be behind this event. This will help towards nation building. Secondly, we understand that cricket will be the No. 2 sport six months from now. So the black people are really supporting cricket. Our hope is always to make cricket the people's game. We have said this for 10 years, going to the townships supporting the Ntinis and Ngams. The World Cup, I think, will make it a reality. It need not necessarily be from a playing point of view, but from the interest and support point of view.
Then the SABC has bought the television rights, which means all the people in South Africa will watch cricket. There will be two networks showing cricket for six weeks. There's going to be 34 days of actual cricket, seven hours a day. And on occasions there will be two matches per day. So the profile for cricket in South Africa and Africa will be unprecedented.
The other important thing is that South Africa will be on the World Centrestage for six weeks. So the opportunity to market South Africa internationally is quite extraordinary. And because of that we are having a close liaison with the Tourism department.
You haven't said anything about the facilities for the players?
The cricketers will want us to be pretty organised, and controversy free. The players are the key people. The practice facilities and the other arrangements have got to be brilliant so that they can give true expression to their skills.
We have a brilliant security directorate. They are working with us to make sure that there will be no problems. We have approved a security budget of eight million rands. There will be approximately a hundred top quality close protection personnel bodyguards with the VIPs, players and the umpires and referees.
We cannot take any chances. We cannot afford to have problems. I have told the Security Directorate that there will be 54 matches and I don't want one spectator to get on the field. They have been made accountable. There will be barriers or whatever, but they know their job. The ground is the exclusive domain of the players and umpires and the instructions have been made very clear to the Security Directorate.
We are also going to associate the teams with Charity dinners. We have taken permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC). We are going to have Charity dinners at Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. We are going to make eight high profile teams make one appearance at a Charity dinner to help us raise money, probably for the AIDS programme in South Africa. We think it's important that the cricketers who come to South Africa should offer their services to help society beyond cricket.
I have seen this happening in the United States where the golfers are brilliant. They play tournaments for Charity Funds. I have been guaranteed support from the CEOs of the majority of the Cricket Boards. These will be very high profile Charity dinners. This has never happened before. We will also encourage the players and managers to mingle with the South Africans. We will also get the top South African sport stars, all the soccer, rugby players and athletes, involved. It was fantastic to see that happening in the Sydney Games. We are really pulling in everybody to be behind us.
Obviously the infrastructure has to be upgraded?
There are 12 grounds in South Africa and we are spending 35 million rands to upgrade them. The provinces will also be contributing to it. So we are looking at a figure between 40 to 50 million rands expended for upgrading the facilities. The major ones will be the media facilities. A majority of the work will be done next winter.
Is everybody happy with ICC's direct involvement - TV rights - with the World Cups?
It's the best thing to have happened for world cricket. By going this route, with the World Sports Group, world cricket will be financially better off. The WSG has guaranteed the ICC $(U.S.) 550 million. Though I had reservations initially, there is no doubt this is the best decision for world cricket.
The icing on the cake will be South Africa winning the World Cup?
Our team is good, we will come close. But what I am saying is that even if we don't win this World Cup, we would like everyone to say that as South Africans we are proud to be part of it.
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