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Mark Gleeson's 2010 diary
31/01/2007 11:58 - (SA)
Mark Gleeson, Daily Sun
Johannesburg - Once the 2010 World Cup finals have been completed, South African soccer will be sitting on 10 world class venues.
It is expected there will be a massive fight for clubs to permanently park themselves in the venues in order to keep revenue and services ticking over.
In fact, that battle has already begun with revelations that the Mpumalanga provincial government is already trying to attract Kaizer Chiefs to their new venue at Nelspruit.
The R850m Mbombela Stadium, due to be finished in 2009, will need a tenant after 2010 and Chiefs have been approached to play some of their future matches in the province.
But, at the same time, Chiefs are already building their own venue, the AmaKhosi Stadium, in Krugersdorp. Mpumalanga officials are being encouraged to investigate the possibility of buying a franchise to be based in the province.
Last December, Local Organising Committee (LOC) 2010 chief executive officer Danny Jordaan told them at the sod-turning ceremony: "Ultimately the province should have its own professional team playing in this stadium."
But Nelspruit have only ever had one professional team and Dangerous Darkies did not last long in the top flight.
Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza is now the defacto owner of Ellis Park Stadium through an empowerment deal last year and the World Rugby Cup final venue is secure with both football and rugby teams based there.
The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, which will undergo an upgrade for the 2010 World Cup, has also been a temporary home for several clubs in recent years and now has a permanent relationship with championship-chasing Silver Stars.
Moroka Swallows will on Wednesday use the stadium near Rustenburg as their home venue for the Premier Soccer League derby against Orlando Pirates.
Cape Town authorities will presumably ask Santos and/or Ajax Cape Town to use their new proposed venue at Green Point but Ajax this month revealed plans for their own 10 000 seater stadium at Phillipi in the township. It is to be built by their Dutch owners, Ajax Amsterdam.
Loftus Versfeld is expected to do a new deal with Mamelodi Sundowns from next season onwards having lost SuperSport United as a tenant. They moved to the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville.
Chiefs are using Loftus as their home venue for the next months.
But just who will move to Soccer City if Pirates and Chiefs are already happily domiciled elsewhere? Could it be that the nomadic Jomo Cosmos will eventually find the home they have been looking for the last decade?
And will Port Elizabeth and Durban make a bid to buy professional sides to keep their new stadiums busy too?
Spreading the word
Ethiopia is where the South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) officials are to be found this week, launching their African legacy programme at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.
It has been described as one of the major events of the year for the LOC.
Details of how the 2010 World Cup will benefit other parts of the continent are to be rolled out by the South Africans. They are also expected to highlights ways that Africa can assist in making the 2010 finals a success.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is to address the African heads of states and Caf president Issa Hayatou is also a guest at the summit.
Safe areas for World Cup
Big thumbs up to police commissioner Andre Pruis, who gave a solid assurance to overseas visitors that they have nothing to fear when they visit South Africa in 2010. Pruis, deputy national commissioner of the South African Police Services who has been dealing with all matters 2010, was in London for the International Sports Security Summit.
There he told reporters high crime levels would not affect visitors to the World Cup.
"Where the soccer is going to take place, where the stadiums are, there will be a low crime levels," he predicted.
Pruis pointed to the security success at the cricket World Cup in 2003 and said much the same was expected in 2010.
But he did warn of the need for international co-operation. "During a major event, a country becomes the world. You import people with their problems."
Police numbers are to be raised to 195 000 by 2010 and will be backed up by some 320 000 private security personnel. Government had pledged R3.5bn to help fight current high crime levels.
Watching matches on your mobile
It is being predicted that by 2010, South Africans will be able to watch all the World Cup games on their mobile phones.
Tests on Premier Soccer League matches have already been conducted by SuperSport and cell phone companies have already begun promoting the sale of specially enabled DVB-H phones, which are able to received crystal clear TV pictures.
It is proposed that in the future, subscribers will be able to simply switch on their mobile, punch in a pin code and be able to watch football live, as if they were in front of a TV.
That means not missing out on the key games when your wife drags you off to the do shopping on a Saturday. Naspers, the company which owns M-Net and Multichoice, are spending R200m on developing the DVB-H technology up to the 2010 World Cup.
The cellular company MTN have bought the rights from Fifa for exclusive broadcasts of World Cup matches via DVB-H in 2010.
It is part of the R460m sponsorship package that the "yello" brand paid for.
Air power
Airport experts are worried Cape Town Airport might not be big enough to handle all the tourists coming to watch the 2010 World Cup. But Stuart Ratcliffe of ATNS Central Airspace Management Unit says the OR Tambo International Airport is set to meet the 2010 demand with massive upgrades of its terminals and parking facilities.
The airports are predicting an estimated extra 300 000 international passengers will come for the tournament in 2010, plus another 50 000 officials and sponsors representatives.
Ready to make magic.
Carlos Alberto Parreira has arrived - he is number 14 in the Bafana Bafana hot seat in 15 years. He is also the fourth foreigner after Philippe Troussier, Carlos Queiroz and Stuart Baxter.
But he is the first Brazilian, a nationality that pundits have been clamouring for to take charge of the national team for some time now.
But whether he can bring some of the World Cup winning magic our way remains to be seen.
Judging by the response to his arrival, the pundits are split almost 50-50 between "yes" and "no".
- Daily Sun
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