The World Football Cup, a business of billions of Euros

Since nobility isn"t cheap, out of this entire business called the World Cup, the organizers are the only ones that will be making a loss. The numbers are simple: you compare all the costs (stadiums plus infrastructure) and all the receipts. The difference could be considered an investment in improving the country"s foreign image. Whereas in 2006, South Africa expected to make approximately 300 million Euros, the costs climbed exponentially, eventually reaching ... 11 billion Euros. This includes every cent spent with the construction of new stadiums and the overhaul of the old ones (1.5 billion Euros), the rebuilding of the highways (8 billion Euros), the overhaul of the airports and hotels (1 billion) plus the money spent on advertising. The first estimate did not include the cost of infrastructure investments. It bears mentioning that Germany spent 9.5 billion Euros for the World Cup of 2006, but the differences in the infrastructure levels of the two countries are obvious. Out of the 11 billion invested, according to some conservative figures, 9.5 billion will be made back. It shouldn"t be forgotten that over the last four years 200,000 jobs have been created in South Africa, a country which had a very high unemployment rate.

• The FIFA will make 50% more than it did in 2006

The machine that includes TV royalties and exclusive endorsements is going like greased lightning, with the earnings of the FIFA growing from one edition to the next. The first numbers provided by the FIFA officials seem to indicate that its earnings from the World Cup of South Africa exceed those of the World Cup of 2006 held in Germany by 50%. If the trend persists, FIFA will earn 2 billion Euros. The chairman of the FIFA, Sepp Blatter, has generously decided to invest 25% of this amount into developing football in Africa. A consistent slice of this pie will go to the African teams that qualified for the World Cup. Each of the 32 teams which qualified for the final tournament will receive 9 million Euros, with the amount set to be hiked according to their results. The country whose team wins the World Cup will receive 30 million Euros, and its vice-champion will receive "just" 22 million. Also, 35 million will be paid out to clubs whose players played in the tournament, 700 Euros/day for each day played by a team member in the final tournament.

• An avalanche of bets

Soccer and bets go hand in hand. A tournament of this size arouses great emotions and whets people"s appetite for betting. The British have already made the first estimates. The William Hill House estimates that the threshold of 1 billion pounds will be reached soon. The Estimates of the Betting Houses Association talk about over 3 billion Euros being bet on the games in South Africa. And that only includes the official numbers.