Many South Africans hope to be able to earn a decent amount of money during the 2010 World Cup football championships. However, ticket sales have been disappointing so far and FIFA regulations governing the sale of souvenirs and refreshments are tough: no fake T-shirts and selling home-made South African delicacies is strictly forbidden; official souvenirs only and a Big Mac from World Cup sponsor McDonald's.

"I'll have to buy new sheets for the beds," says Paula Majola, pointing to a double bed in one of the rooms in her Soweto bed and breakfast. Ms Majola wants to upgrade her B&B before the World Cup starts; a better rating means she can charge more for the rooms. She hopes many football fans will come and stay at eKhaya, Zulu for home, in the Soweto township.

Huge expectations
Ms Majola is one of the many South Africans who hopes to make a profit during the World Cup. The expectations are huge. In South Africa, the words 2010 are almost magical; everyone wants to jump on the World Cup bandwagon and make money. Whether everyone will realise their expectations remains to be seen. According to Udesh Pillay, who has been researching the effects of the World Cup on South Africa, expectations have been vastly exaggerated:

"I really think that the benefits for the poor have been highly overstated and after the World Cup, when we have done an impact assessment of the event itself, and how it has contributed to legacy and development terms, I think some of those ambitions will not have been realised".

Informal economy
Mr Pillay says the number of jobs created by the tournament has been overestimated and the opportunities for local entrepreneurs are limited. At local football games, the streets and the areas surrounding the stadium are crowded with people flogging T-shirts and flags and selling barbecued chicken and sausages from portable grills.

However, FIFA has extremely strict rules and the areas surrounding the stadiums have been reserved for the sponsors; instead of barbecued chicken and a locally brewed beer, supporters will be only be able to buy Big Macs and Budweisers. South African entrepreneurs will only be able to look on in frustration.

Copyright
FIFA has also instituted extremely strict copyright regulations. At the weekly Sunday market in Johannesburg's Rosebank shopping centre, 26-year-old Didymus is pricing his handmade beaded souvenirs. He is also selling armbands with the South African flag and 2010 on them. However, what he is doing is illegal. FIFA has copyrighted 2010 combined with the South African flag, as well as WC 2010, WC Football, WC South Africa and a host of other combinations. Without a licence, it's illegal to sell any of FIFA's copyrighted souvenir items.

Far fewer supporters will come to South Africa than initially predicted. Ticket sales have been very disappointing and the number of visitors has been revised downwards from around 480,000 to 373,000.

Nine billion
Despite all the negativity, international company Grant Thornton is positive and believes fans will stay longer and spend more money than predicted. The average football fan is expected to stay for 18 days and spend about 3,000 euros, for a total of about 1.1 billion euros. The World Cup is expected to deliver a gross national income of about 9 billion euros, most of it spent by the government on improved infrastructure. Economists say the tournament will boost economic growth by 0.5 percent and much of the income will be realised after the competition ends.

People hope that the benefits generated by the World Cup will continue after the tournament ends and that investment and tourism will increase. The country hopes the tournament will help to improve its image in the eyes of the world. Ms Majola says she doesn't expect to become rich from the World Cup itself but from an increase in tourism afterwards:

"I am not after being rich, the exposure is what I am after. For the people from other countries to know that if they come to South Africa there are guesthouses in Soweto and they can get good hospitality. Clearly you don't get rich in one day. What we are aiming at is having more business after the match".

Brilliant idea
Paul Bannister, director of the government's International Marketing Council says personal creativity will determine what people earn during the World Cup: "there are more than enough ways for ordinary South Africans to earn money from the World Cup without using the copyrighted phrases or infringing on the sponsor-only zones around the stadiums". Mr Bannister says that a group of grandmothers have been knitting hats and scarves using the colours from South Africa's flag; it's a brilliant idea given that the World Cup is being held during South Africa's winter.

Social cohesion
Mr Pillay says the tournament has produced both tangible and intangible benefits: the World Cup has led to the creation of great deal of new infrastructure such as roads and motorways but it has also drawn the nation together. All South Africans, black and white, are celebrating this feast of football:

"I think the biggest benefits for me are not the material, they are what I call the intangible benefits, the softer legacy issues. About coming together as a nation, celebrating our diversity. Bringing together a level of social cohesion, in a time that we are a very divided nation. We are the most unequal nation on the planet right now in term of income inequality distribution".