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| | Saturday, 29 June, 2002, 15:31 GMT 16:31 UK World Cup 'can unify SA' Bacher says SA will benefit greatly from the World Cup South Africa can finally come full circle in its development as a nation free of racial division when it stages the 2003 Cricket World Cup. That is the firm belief of Ali Bacher, the executive director of the World Cup and former chief of the United Cricket Board (UCB). Big strides have been made in South Africa since the apartheid era, but Bacher feels the country still has some way to go before its black and white communities are truly unified. And he feels the World Cup can be the ideal vehicle to achieve those aims.
"This event is far bigger than cricket," Bacher told the BBC's Test Match Special. "It's about empowering black people and to make sure that blacks are significantly better off through this event. "It's about developing people, it's about the mentoring of people and by the end of this World Cup we trust that the lives of many South Africans will be better off by having this event in South Africa. Previously disadvantaged "We must use this event to make sure that the beneficiaries are all South Africans, but particularly black South Africans who have been previously disadvantaged." Bacher retired from his post with the UCB in January 2001, and will step down from all cricket administration after the World Cup. A champion of racial unification, Bacher was instrumental in implementing the quota policy for both provincial sides and subsequently the national team. He is adamant the only way to develop South African cricket is to have black South Africans playing in the national side.
What is more, Bacher believes the entire nation will back the team to unprecedented levels if there is equality in racial representation. "On merit the South Africa squad (for the World Cup) will have four to five black South Africans in it," he predicted. "We have some exciting black players coming through and South Africa will rally behind this team like never before. "We want cricket to be a people's game, a game that is played and supported by all South Africans. "To achieve that you must have a degree of representation and I believe that objective will be realised during this World Cup." | |
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