SYDNEY – The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year will be a fillip to a nation still reeling from the devastation of the Christchurch earthquake, chief organiser Martin Snedden said on Tuesday. Just 150 days before the tournament opens on Sept. 9, Snedden said the organisational problems caused by February’s deadly earthquake had been dealt with, although how best to involve the devastated city in the event was still a concern.
And while Snedden stressed organisers’ sympathy for the continuing plight of the people of New Zealand’s second city and was certainly not looking for a “crass marketing” dividend, he thought the tournament would come at just the right time. “It will be good timing for New Zealand, it will be a real fillip,” he told Reuters in an interview. “We have gone through a period of shock, we are still going through a period of grieving. We are quite tentative at the moment about outwardly celebrating too much. “I think what will happen as the year goes on, is that people outside Christchurch will gradually get back to normal, and excitement will grow.
“And in the end, it’s possible that the earthquake will create an emotional feeling that New Zealanders will want the World Cup to be even more successful than they have previously been thinking. “You look for things that unify, and this is an event that will unify the country.” Snedden said it had not been “rocket science” to decide to relocate the seven matches scheduled to take place in Christchurch once the devastation caused by the Feb. 22 natural disaster, which killed at least 172 people, became clear. The holders of 170,000 tickets for the matches had been refunded $19.5 million and the redistribution of the games to other cities has been “largely” well received, Snedden said.
“Financially, we’re not sure of the impact,” he added. “If everything goes our way, it will have very little financial impact, if any. But that is not something we’re able to determine until after the tournament itself.
“Emotionally, we’ve got a rugby-mad province that is not directly going to be part of the matches, so somehow we’ve got to find a way of making sure those people do have a proper opportunity to become involved. That’s going to be quite challenging.”