In Portugal, the local municipality of Leiria is paying 5,000 Euro per day in maintenance costs for a stadium that is now closed. And a further eight percent of the annual local municipality budget is spent repaying the mortgage of the stadium that was built for the European championships in football in 2004.

Comment: In the bathroom, during the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa this summer, the North Korean ambassador in Pretoria grabbed hold of the arm of his South Korean counterpart and threatened South Korea with non-specific measures unless Seoul stopped accusing North Korea of sinking the South Korean navy vessel Cheonan. The Cheonan was sunk in March this year and 46 South Koreans died.

Danny Jordaan, head of the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee described the world’s largest sporting event as a ‘rebranding of South Africa’.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter seems confident that his African legacy will live on in the form of an Olympic Games held in South Africa. In July 2010, encouraged by President Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s governing Olympic body SASCOC announced that it would oversee a bid for the 2020 Games and encouraged potential host cities to state their intention to bid.

When considering the impact of ethics in sport, the mega-stadia constructed especially for the 2010 World Cup certainly is a controversial talking point. Many South Africans have expressed the opinion that the funds spent on building these massive constructions, in line with FIFA’s requirements, would have been better spent on much-needed resources, such as housing, schools, hospitals, and other types of social service delivery.

The World Cup is undoubtedly over. It is time for reflection. I want to speculate on the future of the football World Cup based on this year's tournament. Will the World Cup be destroyed by political disputes?

The party is over and the World Cup has left South Africa, and generally the reviews have been very good. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, praised South Africa’s efforts in hosting this year’s World Cup by giving them nine out of 10.

It is not football. It is the game of deliberate diplomatic deniability. The game is all about making truthful statements that do not ruffle any official feathers. Here is how it is played. Examine this section of FIFA’s statement on the allegations about Nigerian match-fixing in the World Cup.