While there have been doubts about whether the 2010 FIFA World Cup would benefit South Africa as much as had been expected, researchers from JPMorgan and Deloitte were positive that the tournament would be beneficial for the country.

JP Morgan on Thursday said that the sporting event would add 0,4% to South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP), which would help to boost growth for 2010 to 3%, surpassing the South African Treasury's expectations of 1,5% growth for the year.

Spending by visitors, as well as locals, could add up to R9,9-billion to the South African economy in the second half of the year.

Further, it pointed out that there was historically a strong positive correlation between hosting a FIFA World Cup and the equity market performance of the host country, while the currencies of hosting countries also tended to appreciate in the six months run-up to a FIFA World Cup.

JP Morgan said that it believed the South African equity market should benefit from the sporting event, especially given that the local equity market had lagged other emerging market equity market recoveries last year.

Meanwhile, Deloitte said that the 2010 FIFA World Cup could be a turning point for South Africa, and that the country had already realised many of the hoped for benefits.

"The event has provided a boost to national infrastructure improvements, increased employment during hard times for the global economy, and provided a unifying rallying point for a still-developing nation," it stated.

The infrastructure improvements and the economic benefits, as well as other benefits, were expected to continue accruing after the tournament had ended.

Deloitte noted that this year's World Cup differed from the 2006 FIFA World Cup, held in Germany, given that it was taking place amid the recovery from the global economic recession, as well as the fact that it was being held at a greater distance from the developed nations that drive attendance.

These factors had contributed to a lower attendance than before.

However, Deloitte said that the benefits of hosting the sporting tournament would "potentially" be greater for South Africa, an emerging market with more room for growth.