Fifa, the organisation that runs the Soccer World Cup (SWC), has gone to great lengths to assure the media
in South Africa that it has no intention of restricting press freedom in the country.
Fifa, the organisation that runs the Soccer World Cup (SWC), has gone to great lengths to assure the media
in South Africa that it has no intention of restricting press freedom in the country.
This reassurance follows a series of consultations between Fifa on the one hand, and the World Association of Newspapers and the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) on the other.
Local media houses raised concerns when some employees signed up for accreditation to the SWC, set to begin in June this year.
The terms of the accreditation bind not only individual journalists but also their entire media houses to a number of conditions, that if rigorously applied, could be extremely restrictive.
For example, one of the clauses says that journalists may not generate reports that bring Fifa into disrepute does this mean that the entire event will be above criticism?
Fifa rejects such an interpretation of its regulations saying that, “The purpose of the media accreditation terms and conditionsb is to regulate the behaviour of people entering the 2010 Fifa World Cup venues,
first and foremost to ensure the safety of everyone in those venues.
The purpose is not, and has never been, to restrict press freedom.” The obvious question in response to
this statement is why make journalists commit to such draconian regulations, if you have no intention of applying them?
There is, however, a simple solution for any journalist who wishes to remain completely free of any Fifa restrictions don’t apply for accreditation.
If you do not have Fifa accreditation, you will not be subject to Fifa regulations, but you will also not be
allowed to work as a journalist at any Fifa event, including soccer matches.
Is this price too high? This newspaper has not applied for accreditation to this year’s SWC. Not because
we intend publishing any nasty articles about the event, but simply because we do not have the resources for such wide ranging coverage.
