’Fans can expect a spectacle WC opening’ 28/02/2010
FIFA is remaining tight-lipped about preparations for the 2010 World Cup opening ceremony to be held at Soccer City in Johannesburg. But if the 2006 opener in Germany is anything to go by, fans can expect a spectacle. The Times reports that FIFA has announced that fans will be treated to a pre-opening ’Official Kick-Off Celebration Concert’ on June 10 at the renovated 40000-seat Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
Blatter in SA for 100-day celebrations - 27/02/2010
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will touch down in South Africa to join the country in the 2010 World Cup’s 100 days countdown celebrations in Durban. As part of the celebrations Bafana Bafana will play an international friendly against Namibia at the new Moses Mabhida Stadium on 3 March. The Sowetan reports that 2010 organising committee convener Issa Hayatou said they were impressed by South Africa’s preparations for the tournament.
A star-studded line-up of entertainment and sport is scheduled for Sunday when Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor Zanoxolo Wayile officially opens the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The Herald reports that the event, open to the public, will coincide with South Africa’s 2010 World Cup 100 Days of Festivities. The 100-day countdown to the start of the World Cup on June 11 kicks off on March 1. ’As the World Cup draws near, we realise how far we have come in terms of preparations, which have remained on track and, in many instances, have surpassed our expectations,’ said 2010 World Cup Nelson Mandela Bay executive director Errol Heynes.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is set to host a soccer treat when Soweto giants Orlando Pirates clash with Botswana’s Gaborone United in a Confederation of African Football Champions League encounter on Sunday, February 28.The Buccaneers agreed to meet Gaborone after being approached by the host city to play at the 40000-seater stadium, notes a Sunday World report. The match is being played as part of the venue readiness test in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality will use the match between Orlando Pirates and Botswana’s Gaborone United to promote the 2010 World Cup in Port Elizabeth’s townships. The Sowetan reports that this was announced by Putco Mafani of the municipality’s marketing, communications and events directorate. Pirates and United will be in the Eastern Cape for the African Champions League return match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on February 28.
Celine Dion has planned to throw parties for South African orphans ahead of the 2010 World Cup. The Canadian singer wants the orphans to feel like they’re a part of the tournament and has planned to organise parties with the 2010 World Cup theme, notes an iafrica.com report. While touring the country in 2008, Dion visited the African Children’s Feeding Scheme in Soweto and pledged to give them R300 000 a year for five years.
A potential clash between the 2010 World Cup and the final of the Super 14 competition could potentially cost a South African team home ground advantage, notes a SA Rugby report. A date clash between the final of the Super 14 and the start of the World Cup in South Africa is causing logistical problems as FIFA stipulate that no major sporting events take place in the host cities around the start of the tournament. The final of the Super 14 takes place in May, before the scheduled start of the World Cup, but is still in jeopardy with SARU president Oregan Hoskins set for talks with World Cup organising committee chief Danny Jordaan on the issue.
2010 stadium ready for 40 000 rugby fans 02/02/2010
Cape Town’s World Cup stadium has been transformed into a rugby field of dreams. The Cape Argus reports that on Saturday 40 000 spectators are expected to attend the second test event at the stadium - a rugby match between the Vodacom Stormers and a Boland invitation side. The event, dubbed a rugby festival, will kick off with a curtain-raiser match between the SA 10s and the International 10s. The 40 000 tickets were snapped up within days after they went on sale last week. Morne du Plessis, the executive director at Sail Stadefrance, the stadium operator, said the response from Capetonians had been tremendous.
Tickets for Saturday’s Cape Town Stadium Soccer Festival featuring Ajax Cape Town and Santos have been sold out. The Sowetan reports that sales reached 20 000, which is the number of tickets the organisers of the new 2010 World Cup Stadium decided to sell to test the readiness of the facility. Hosted by the City of Cape Town, the tournament is organised by stadium operators Sail Stadefrance and sponsored by Virgin Active Health Clubs and MTN. Ajax Cape Town attacking midfielder Thulani Serero, who is in Durban on camp with Bafana Bafana, said they were excited to be part of the historic occasion.
Mossel Bay exhibits in the Netherlands - 15/01/2010
Mossel Bay Tourism has begun its annual European marketing season by exhibiting at the Vakantiebeurs 2010 in Utrecht, in the Netherlands. The show, the fortieth in the series, is the largest of its kind in the region, and attracts both tourism professionals and the travelling public. It runs this year from the 12th to the 17th of January. Mossel Bay Tourism’s Chief Operations Officer, Marcia Holm, said: ’Especially in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa definitely has to consider its position in world tourism because high airfares and the generally high cost of accommodation throughout the country are putting many people off’.
Chiefs to participate in the Peter Mokaba Cup - 15/01/2010
Kaizer Chiefs have accepted an invitation from Provincial Government in Polokwane to participate in the inaugural Peter Mokaba Cup to open the newly-built Peter Mokaba Stadium. The tournament has been planned for Saturday, January 23, with current Absa Premiership champions, SuperSport United, Brondby If from Denmark and Bidvest Wits University joining Amakhosi to celebrate the grand opening of the Fifa 2010 World Cup Stadium. Ticket sales will open on Monday, January 18 and will selling for R35. The 45 000-seat stadium will only accommodate 30 000 fans for the tournament.
South Africa will celebrate the kickoff of the 100 day-countdown to the 2010 World Cup finals with a big gumba scheduled for Durban on March 2. Local Organising Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan said the gathering will also focus on the new Moses Mabhida Stadium. Jordaan said they were over the moon that the preparations for the quadrennial soccer spectacle were well on track, reiterating their commitment to delivering a successful event.
FNB kicked off its World Cup 2010 campaign by utilising full wrap bus branding on Tractor Transits/CK Outdoor Golden Arrow bus fleet. All 10 buses were wrapped in time for the 4 December the draw and will carry FNB’s World Cup creative until the end of the tournament in July 2010. ’We are proud to be associated with FNB for the upcoming World Cup,’ says Simon Wall, sales director of Tractor Outdoor. ’The reach and exposure that these buses achieve is impossible to equal with a traditional billboard campaign. Not only do the buses travel directly passed all major points of convergence in the CBD like stadiums, hotels and retail zones, but they travel into hard to reach suburbs where billboards are simply not allowed. A great example of this is the highly sought after Camps Bay/Clifton promenade - where these buses traveled up and down repeatedly over the busy tourist season this year.’
The opening ceremony for the much anticipated African Nations Cup will take place at Luandas gigantic National Stadium 11 de Novembro on January 10, 2010. The spectacular event will be presented with an African flavour and style and is set to kickoff at 17:30h (local Angolan time). Human boards, public participation through activities of claques and the Cup of Nations official hymn performance are some of the activities set to brace the screens of those not fortunate enough to be in the stadium.
Scifest Africa, which takes place in Grahamstown from March 24 to 30, has joined the national 2010 World Cup fervour by choosing a sport-related theme. Science in Motion is a subject that Scifest director Vera Adams says is associated with sport and movement. And several lectures, workshops and fringe events will focus on sports in general and on the upcoming World Cup in particular. The official seven-day programme detailing all 440 events and 56 exhibitions is available from the Scifest Africa office, which can be reached telephonically at 0466031106 or by e-mail at info@scifest.org.za.
With just six months until the launch of the ’biggest National Arts Festival ever’ in Grahamstown, organisers are putting together final plans which will see more theatre acts cater to the largest crowds the City of Saints has seen in the event’s 36-year history. And despite soccer fever gripping the nation, soccer fans would also be in search of culture, said festival director Ismael Mahomed. ’Fans coming to the 2010 Fifa soccer World Cup will be no different to other tourists. They will still want to be part of an energetic and creative buzz, and the new festival will offer them that,’ he said. ’I was in Germany during the (2006 soccer) World Cup and was able to see lovely theatre productions which were sold out during that time.’
BizCommunity readers are invited to attend a series of on-air discussions, which will look at South Africa and the continent once the final goal is scored at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Produced by CNBC Africa, the first recording will take place on Friday 15 January 2010 from 7 - 8.30pm at its studios in Sandton and will air on Wednesday 27 January at 8pm. This first debate will focus on issues surrounding marketing strategies of sponsors ahead of 2010 and during the event. What legacy will sponsors leave for the development of soccer and sectors on the continent? What initiatives are sponsors undertaking that will leave a legacy for the people of South Africa? How do sponsors intend to create South African brand ambassadors from tourists who will be visiting our shores? A specialist panel of guests will spend 60 minutes in front of the studio audience discussing pertinent points around soccer, infrastructure, social and political opportunities. As seating is limited, email Denham Pons denham.pons@cnbcafrica.com by January 14 2010 to attend the debate.
2010 MultiChoice African Journalist Awards open 17/12/2009
CNN International and MultiChoice recently launched the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2010 Awards. Bizcommunity.com reports that the winners will be announced at a gala ceremony to be held in Kampala, Uganda in May 2010. Tony Maddox, executive vice president and managing director of CNN International, said: ’It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2010 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards are returning to East Africa. And it is fitting that now in its fifteenth year, the awards are being held in Uganda, a country that has produced so many success stories and winners in the competition’s history.’ Nico Meyer, CEO MultiChoice South Africa said, ’With all eyes on South Africa ahead of the World Cup, it is imperative that journalists are encouraged and supported to tell the African story with passion and excellence.’
The success of the 2010 Final Draw is a glimpse of the flair and professionalism which South Africa will deliver to the world during the World Cup, says Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. ’I trust that the success of the Final Draw has provided you with a strong sense of the passion, flair and professionalism with which South Africa is preparing itself for the historic first FIFA World Cup tournament in Africa,’ he said. Motlanthe said that government remains confident that the country will host the best World Cup ever. He said government and South Africa recognises and appreciates the role play of the media in creating abuzz and informing the world about the preparations of the World Cup.
Diego Maradona, Vicente Del Bosque and Shaibu Amodu are among those who have confirmed their attendance at the 2010 World Cup final draw in Cape Town on Friday. The Sowetan reports that Maradona is the coach of Argentina, Del Bosque is in charge of Spain, while former Orlando Pirates mentor Amodu leads Nigeria. Others arriving include South Africa coach Carlos Parreira, Marcello Lippi of Italy, Fabio Capello (England), Dunga (Brazil) and Carlos Queiroz (Portugal). Amodu breathed a sigh of relief after the Nigeria Football Federation decided to retain him as coach after the Super Eagles almost failed to qualify for the Cup. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria and hosts SA will represent Africa. Danny Jordaan, the LOC chief executive, says African teams will spring a major surprise in the Cup.
Come this Friday evening and the rugby-mad South African city of Cape Town will be temporarily transformed into the football capital of the world. As dusk envelopes one of the most popular international tourist attractions, the Cape Town International Convention Centre plays hosts to the 2010 World Cup draw scheduled to be broadcast live in almost 200 countries. Sports24 reports that Jerome Valcke, France-born secretary-general of world football governing body FIFA, will conduct a draw designing to split the 31 qualifiers and hosts South Africa into eight groups.
When a galaxy of stars glides into the Mother City this week to witness the World Cup final draw, expect a spectacle like never before. On Friday, organisers will roll out a 65m red carpet - adorned with 15 truckloads of proteas and fynbos and flanked by minstrels and drummers - for international celebrities including David Beckham and Charlize Theron.
Inside the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where the draw will take place, a 4m bronze statue by Cape sculptor Keith Calder will welcome the well-heeled guests. The piece forms part of the 2010 Fine Art Collection, featuring works from each of the 32 participating countries.
First-class technology for visiting reporters 27/11/2009
Next week South Africa will play host to the world’s media as the final draw play-offs for the 2010 World Cup are announced on 4 December in Cape Town. The Media Online reports that SA Tourism has ensured that first-class technology will be available for the visiting media. The media centres will be equipped with advanced uTouch systems, the ’uTouch’ screen turns a panel of glass into an interactive touch application which provide incredible speed, accuracy and reliability during operation. Each day, news and updates will be uploaded onto the screens and media will receive notifications straight to their selected method of contact (SMS or email) to alert them that new information is available for download.
Internationally acclaimed singers Angelique Kidjo, Johnny Clegg and the Soweto Gospel Choir are in the line-up of musicians who will entertain at the final draw of the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town next Friday, notes a report in The Sowetan. Also in attendance will be Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron and a host of other Hollywood A-listers. The draw will be done at the International Convention Centre and the musicians are part of the bigger razzmatazz being put on to show what a memorable World Cup those coming to our shores can look forward to.
More than three years after qualifying first began, 32 teams will go into the hat here next Friday for the crucial Soccer World Cup draw, as the countdown to South Africa 2010 begins in earnest. Sports24 reports that the 90-minute ceremony will determine not just who plays who, but where they play in a country so crime-ridden that Germany’s World Cup stars have been warned to wear bullet-proof vests if they venture away from their hotel. The teams will be split into eight groups of four with the seedings and draw procedure only finalised next week, although no more than two European nations can be drawn together. Once the lineups are decided the focus will switch to next year and the opening game at the gleaming new Soccer City in Johannesburg on June 11 between teams one and two from Group A.
Long Street set to become festival zone for draw 26/11/2009
The entire Upper Long Street, from Wale Street to Buitensingel, is to be converted into a festival zone for the Final Draw of the 2010 World Cup on Friday, December 4.
The Final Draw, which will take place in front of some 3 000 international guests at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) will be broadcast live to an estimated audience of 150 million viewers in 200 countries. According to Pieter Cronjι, the City of Cape Town’s Director of Communication and 2010 Spokesperson, the Long Street festival area will have video links to the CTICC’s Red Carpet Welcome Event so that Capetonians can experience the excitement of the event on large video screens in the party heart of the Cape Town CBD.
Table Mountain lights up for final draw 26/11/2009
On December 4, one of the world’s largest television audiences will focus on Cape Town for the Final Draw of the 2010 World Cup. To celebrate the event, the City of Cape Town has arranged to keep the lights at Table Mountain switched on until midnight on that Friday night, as well as on Sunday, November 29. ’As one of the world’s most famous landmarks, Table Mountain, is bound to feature prominently in every newscast which will be beamed from Cape Town to some 200 countries,’ says Pieter Cronjι, the City’s Director of Communications and 2010 World Cup spokesperson. According to Director of Electricity Services, Dr Leslie Rencontre, the City will be purchasing green energy to illuminate the mountain during this festive season peak period.
The 2009 SoccerEx will be even bigger and better this time around with an impressive guest line-up that will feature the who’s who of the global football community. This will be the last Expo of this kind to be staged in South Africa prior to the 2010 World Cup draw, notes a Moroka Swallows Online report. The organisers of this year’s football Expo have gone out of their way to ensure that around 100 countries will be represented with over 3000 delegates expected to attend. In addition to that, there will be over 160 representatives from 98 clubs coming from 25 different countries. Add to that around 200 exhibitors and you get a recipe for a great SoccerEx.
The who’s who of soccer flock to Soccerex 26/11/2009
The who’s who of global soccer, including legends Ruud Gullit, Eusebio, Roger Milla and Franz Beckenbauer, will invade Johannesburg this weekend to grace Soccerex, notes a report in The Sowetan. Also attending are FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Brazil soccer chief Ricardo Teixeira, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, local legend Lucas Radebe and Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane. SAFA president Kirsten Nematandani described the success of Soccerex as yet another vote of confidence in South Africa’s ability to host major global events. ’This is coming on the eve of one of the biggest events in our lifetime, the 2010 World Cup final draw in Cape Town on December 4,’ he said.
Stormers set to play at Green Point Stadium 26/11/2009
The Stormers will make their ’debut’ at the new Green Point stadium, to be used for the 2010 World Cup, when they play a pre-season game there in February. It has confirmed that the traditional friendly between the Stormers and provincial neighbours Boland will take place in Green Point on Saturday, February 6, notes a report on the iafrica.com site. The Boland Rugby Union, who play hosts to this fixture, have agreed to move the fixture from their home ground in Wellington to the new Cape Town Stadium in Green Point. It will be the first time since the mid 1980s that provincial rugby will be played in the Green Point stadium - as it was called, before it’s revamp for Soccer World Cup 2010 and being renamed the Cape Town Stadium.
