High Court set to rule on Soccer City – 26/07/2010
The High Court in Johannesburg will rule next month on whether the iconic World Cup final stadium, Soccer City, would be renamed the FNB Stadium or National Stadium. Sport24 reports that FNB, who held the sponsoring rights before the FIFA World Cup, applied for a court interdict against the changing of the name to National Stadium. This was after current management decided to officially rename the stadium to National Stadium at the Springbok rugby team’s Tri Nations Test against the All Blacks there on August 21.
August 27 will see a massive party in Green Point as Cape Town Stadium hosts four PSL teams in one night of football action. Peace Fm reports that Morne du Plessis, the chairperson of SAIL STADEFRANCE, the operators of the Cape Town Stadium, said the ’party’ would feature the Cape Town kick off of the Absa Premiership season with a double-header. Although Du Plessis was confident the double header would take place, the PSL are a little more cautious saying they are set to meet with the authorities to finalise some issues.
Soccer City row erupts after WC final – 17/07/2010
It’s official. On Sunday, the iconic stadium which hosted the opening game of the World Cup and the final reverts to being the FNB Stadium - but it might be up to the High Court to decide for how long. The Star reports that the R3.4 billion showpiece calabash in Joburg, which will forever be known as Soccer City to million of overseas soccer fans - and indeed to most GPS users until their software is updated - will now be known as the FNB Stadium for the next four years.
Cricket could emerge as an unlikely saviour of World Cup soccer stadiums with the decision by Cricket South Africa (CSA) to stage a Twenty20 international at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Sport24 reports that South Africa underwent a massive building programme in an effort to make the country ready to host the month-long soccer extravaganza with the construction of five new stadiums while a further five underwent varying degrees of renovation.
Mpumalanga soccer or rugby teams have yet shown interest in using the R1.4bn Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, which was built for the 2010 World Cup. Sport24 reports that the 43 500-seater stadium, which cost the province an additional R350m to host only four World Cup matches, is owned by the Mbombela Local Municipality.
The municipality hasn’t reached out to local sports teams yet either.
South Africa’s 2010 World Cup stadiums have stunned the globe’s largest sporting audience with audacious style although critics say a developing country can ill afford such extravagance and some will be white elephants. When South Africa won the right to stage the tournament six years ago, the stadium budget was R3bn. After including two more arenas and some dazzling structural additions, that figure is now widely put at about R18bn.
South Africa’s Soccer City erupted in lights for the World Cup closing ceremony, with singers performing a medley of local music from urban hip-hop to a cappella chorals. Performers danced into the shape of a vuvuzela that spouted lights leading to Colombian superstar Shakira performing her song Waka Waka, the tournament’s official anthem, with local band Freshlyground.
About 780 dancers clad in colourful urban youth gear broke into synchronised dance, sending the 85 000 fans into a celebratory frenzy.
FIFA may compensate fans who missed Spain’s World Cup semi-final win over Germany because of congestion at Durban’s new airport. Sport24 reports that hundreds of fans had their flights delayed or turned away from King Shaka International Airport on Wednesday after an increase in private jets contributed to all the landing slots being filled. FIFA spokesperson Nicolas Maingot says the football body will definitely look at the cases of fans affected by flight problems.
South Africa must persuade its top rugby teams to use the new 2010 World Cup stadiums if the impressive infrastructure is to remain sustainable, top local officials have said. But while the world champion Springboks are set to play their archrivals, the New Zealand All Blacks, at Soccer City next month, other rugby sides are reluctant to move from their homes to the new stadiums, indicating tough prospects ahead for the future upkeep of the new venues, notes a report on the IoL site.
The name of the Mother City’s 2010 stadium is Cape Town Stadium, not Green Point Stadium, the city said. Its communications department said Green Point had been a ’working title’ while the 68 000-seater stadium was under construction. ’The city would like to remind the public that the stadium’s official name is the Cape Town Stadium, as approved by council last year,’ it said in a statement.
Extra measures have been put in place to ensure the pitch at Soccer City remains in top shape for the duration of the 2010 World Cup, which ends with the final at the Soweto stadium on July 11, notes a Daily Dispatch report. The recent cold snap on the highveld has led to frosty conditions at night, causing discolouration of the pitch at one end of Soccer City, which was clearly visible during Sunday’s Group G match between Brazil and Ivory Coast
The 68 000-seater Cape Town Stadium received plaudits from fans as it hosted its first World Cup game on Friday night. ’It works very well: it’s got a nice buzz,’ said Cape Town businessman Mike Klerk, sporting a knitted cap in French colours, at half-time. Klerk, one of the fans that made up what appeared to be a near-capacity crowd watching France take on Uruguay, said he had been to soccer matches in the United Kingdom and Germany.
Cape Town stadium was equal to, if not better than, the best in those countries, he said.
Athlone Stadium, upgraded at a cost of almost half a billion rand, will host only one nation as a training venue despite eight 2010 World Cup matches being played in Cape Town. From being the 2005 Western Cape government’s ’primary venue’ for the World Cup, Athlone has again been snubbed, much to the anger of locals and businesses who were under the impression that the French and Uruguayan squads would be practising there. Now the Netherlands will be the only team training at the stadium.
Officials are to throw a ring of steel around Johannesburg’s sparkling new Soccer City stadium to prevent terrorists, hooligans or petty criminals from spoiling Friday’s World Cup kick-off, notes a Sport24 report. The build-up to the tournament has been dogged by talk of terror plots and hooligan fears, as well as concerns about South Africa’s high crime rate. Around 40 heads of state and a host of VIPs will attend the opening ceremony and inaugural match between the hosts and Mexico at the 95 000-seat stadium.
A city company has threatened to upset the well-laid World Cup plans for Loftus Versfeld Stadium by taking the Tshwane Metro Council to court for failing to honour a multimillion rand construction bill. The company, which upgraded the stadium, is intending to head to court - four days before the World Cup kicks off - in a bid to stop any games being played at the venue. HBC Construction Ltd, formerly Homeless Building Construction CC, filed papers this week in the Pretoria High Court against the Tshwane Metro Council, the 2010 LOC and the Minister of Sports.
Aids organisations criticised FIFA and the LOC for ’blocking’ attempts to make condoms and HIV-related information available at World Cup stadiums and fan parks, notes a report on the IoL site. ’To date FIFA has not permitted any civil society organisation to distribute HIV or health-related information and FIFA has not provided any written confirmation that condoms may be distributed at stadiums and within the fan festivals,’ they said in a statement. They had requested an urgent meeting with the soccer body and the LOC, but were turned down.
With eight days to the kick-off of the 2010 World Cup, Soccer City Stadium, the venue for the opening match on 11 June, was officially handed-over to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and LOC Irvin Khoza by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Executive Mayor of Johannesburg Councillor Amos Masondo. To recognise the contributions made by the city of Johannesburg as one of the Host Cities for the 2010 World Cup, a commemorative plaque was unveiled in attendance of the Minister of Sports and Recreation, Reverend Makhenkesi Stofile.
Cellphone network operator MTN SA says it has spent nearly R450m on network investments directly related to the 2010 World Cup, including the roll-out of dedicated infrastructure at all the stadiums to be used during the Cup, notes a Tech Central report. MTN SA chief technology officer Sameer Dave says the company has built additional infrastructure at stadiums to ensure fans can always make phone calls and connect to the Internet and to ensure the connectivity of residents in neighbourhoods next to stadiums are not affected.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter this weekend gave the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium a big thumbs-up. The Herald reports Blatter visited the stadium in North End with a high-powered delegation including FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke, organising committee chairman Irvin Khoza and LOC CE Danny Jordaan. The municipality officially handed over the R2-billion stadium to FIFA, which means the soccer body assumes total operational responsibility for the stadium until the end of the tournament in July.
Cape Town Stadium has the best pitch of all the 2010 World Cup venues, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said yesterday. Speaking at the ceremonial handover of the 68 000-seater stadium to the world soccer body, Valcke said, ’It’s definitely the best pitch we have during all this World Cup, if you compare with all the other stadiums. I’m sorry for the other stadiums, but it’s a fact.’ He told Cape Town mayor Dan Plato that FIFA would take care of the stadium during the tournament and make sure it was ’as nice as it is today’ when it was handed back.
The first turbine of the Coega wind farm project in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has been connected to the national power grid. The Herald reports the 25-turbine farm will produce electricity for the Mandela Bay stadium during the 2010 World Cup free of charge. Belgium-based Electrawinds has invested R1.2-billion in the project. Each of the 25 wind turbines will have a 1.8MW capacity, ’which translates into an annual yield of 5.7-million kilowatt-hours, enough energy to power about 1700 households.’
Fledgling businesses at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban were expecting to profit handsomely during the 2010 World Cup, closing for only a few days during the tournament, notes a report in The Mercury. However, they are now counting the costs after being told two weeks ago that they will have to shut up shop for eight weeks as from Monday. Security concerns have been blamed for the closure, costing several people their jobs and the businesses millions of rands in lost income.
Zuma officially opens Soccer City - 23/05/2010officially
The iconic Soccer City Stadium in Nasrec in Johannesburg was officially declared open by President Jacob Zuma over the weekend. The calabash-shaped stadium will host the opening ceremony and the first 2010 World Cup match featuring South Africa and Mexico on June 11, as well as the closing ceremony and final match on July 11. South Africans from all walks of life converged on the stadium to be part of the ceremony that was also attended by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, City of Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo, 2010 LOC CEO Danny Jordaan and FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke.
The 2010 World Cup has brought Port Elizabeth a stunning new landmark in its oceanside stadium, but questions remain about who will fill the stands once the global football fans leave, notes a Mail & Guardian report. ’In the South African case, all the stadiums were either renovated or constructed by the government. That means that the commercial consideration was never primary,’ said economist Stan du Plessis of Stellenbosch University.
The Nedbank Cup Final will be the first match to be played at the new multibillion-rand Soccer City Stadium, which will be used for the opening and closing matches in next month’s World Cup finals, notes a Daily News report. As the 2010 LOC are using the final to test the venue ahead of the World Cup, only 80 000 tickets will be sold. The stadium has a capacity of 94 000.
With just 20 days to kick-off, security arrangements for the Nelson Mandela Bay World Cup stadium have been thrown into disarray, notes a Daily Dispatch report. According to highly placed sources, the LOC is preparing to oust the stadium’s nominated security provider, with police bracing for the possibility of taking over all security for the event.
With less than a month before the 2010 World Cup, host cities are desperately trying to come up with models to generate money to cover the exorbitant costs of maintaining stadiums after the tournament. Some stadiums would need between R10 million to R70 million a year for maintenance, notes a report on the IoL site. Host cities are toying with ideas to make sure ratepayers do not end up forking out a fortune to cover these costs.
Bafana, Thailand friendly to open Mbombela stadium – 10/05/2010
The Mbombela Municipality will use Sunday’s international friendly between Bafana Bafana and Thailand to officially open the new 2010 World Cup match venue, notes a report in The Sowetan. Thailand, ranked 105 by FIFA, did not qualify for the World Cup but SAFA are confident the match will assist Bafana Bafana during their preparations. Mbombela Municipality were initially planning to officially open the stadium on Saturday but have decided to merge the celebrations with the 90-Fifa ranked Bafana Bafana match.
The Moses Mabhida Stadium has generated over R4million through its skycar and bungee jumping facility in the past few months, the city said. ’This proves that our stadium will never be a white elephant. The over R4million does not include money generated by businesses at the stadium,’ said city manager, Mike Sutcliffe. The Witness reports that the stadium, which was completed months before the World Cup, has become one of South Africa’s tourist attractions, he said. He said more than 80 000 people had made the trip to the top of the 106m arch in the skycar to experience the stunning views of Durban and the Indian Ocean.
’Brand’ police will patrol 2010 World Cup stadiums to ensure the FIFA brand is not ’hijacked’, the world football body said. No brand but the FIFA brand will be allowed in the commercial restriction zones in and around stadiums countrywide. The Witness reports that soccer fans will sip their cold drinks in ’neutral, clear’ glasses, will eat food served in ’unbranded wraps’ and will not read newspapers, since newspaper sales are not allowed inside stadiums. ’We plan to have teams in each of the cities looking out for brand hijackers,’ said FIFA rights protection manager Mpumi Mazibuko.
