John Perlman, SA soccer's real hero

Kevin Bloom

Around the time of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, veteran journalist Perlman started to think about where he'd be and what he'd be doing when the 2010 World Cup arrived in South Africa. A lifelong football enthusiast, he knew his profession would give him the opportunity to get close to the players and the intrigue - but he was wary of coming at the tournament from the position of the cynic.

He wanted to do something that had "social benefit" (a tough thing for a journalist to acknowledge, but there you have it), and he followed his instincts. By October 2007 Perlman had officially launched the Dreamfields Project, a section 21 company that places "resources for playing soccer" in South Africa's townships and rural areas.

"This is all a bit of a revelation for me," Perlman says, during an interview with The Daily Maverick at the Dreamfields offices in Diagonal Street. "There's a lot around the world cup that you can get pissed off and sceptical about. I value scepticism, I think it's important, but I just didn't want that attitude with this world cup."

Continue reading the full story on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.