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[Rafa]

Soccer City: Charity Cup sold out
Share | 01 August 2010, 12:08 Tickets for the Telkom Charity Cup to be staged at Soccer City on Saturday have been sold out.

This was announced by Premier Soccer League media manager Altaaf Kazi on Sunday. He added that only hospitality suite tickets are still available.

The public voting on which four PSL teams will compete in the annual PSL season pipe-opener will be made in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The four teams polling the most telephone votes will compete in the day long event. - Sapa

Soccer City: 'Soccer City' Tri-Nations match sold out

July 27 2010 at 04:03PM Get IOL on your
mobile at m.iol.co.za

The Golden Lions Rugby Union (GLRU) announced on Tuesday that all available tickets for the Vodacom Tri-Nations Test between the Springboks and New Zealand on August 21 at National Stadium (formerly Soccer City) have been sold.

The match is officially an 88 791 seat sell-out, making it the largest attendance for a Springbok Test since 1955, should all ticket holders attend.

The last 5 000 tickets, available only in Soweto, sold out on Monday.

The GLRU confirmed that a final phase of ticket sales would not be possible as all stakeholders had opted to utilise their full allocation. - Sapa

Cape Town Stadium: Friday night football fever


Bid to keep Friday fever burning high


Aug 1, 2010 12:00 AM | By BARENG-BATHO KORTJAAS

In a creative bid to keep World Cup fever going, the Cape Town Stadium will stage a double header on the first night of the Absa Premiership season this month.
The games on August 27 will feature a baptism of fire for newcomers to the elite league, Vasco Da Gama, who will take on Orlando Pirates at 6pm. This will be followed by a clash between Ajax Cape Town and Bloemfontein Celtic at 8.45pm.

Ajax chairman John Comitis sees Friday night football fever as a perfect way to keep the Cape Town Stadium viable. The stadium was constructed at a cost of R4.4-billion.

"We have a responsibility as clubs in the Cape to make the stadium work. Everybody has come to the party.

"If we want all those throngs of fans who attended World Cup games to come back, the way to go is double headers on Friday night. All things being equal, this concept will make a huge difference in crowd attendances in Cape Town. I am confident we will be able to attract about 40000 people," said Comitis.

The Cape Town Stadium had a 68000 capacity for the World Cup but this will be reduced to 58000.

Comitis says all parties will contribute to the costs.

"Everybody will contribute and that includes the stadium management, the city and the clubs," said Comitis. " The idea is not to worry much about the rands and cents. The focus is on making the stadium work and showing people what South African soccer can achieve."

The Cape Town initiative has the blessing of the Premier Soccer League, which revised the fixture list to accommodate it.

"This idea was a result of a working arrangement between the four teams, the city council and stadium management," said PSL chief operations officer Ronnie Schloss.

Schloss suggested that double-header fever could spread to other provinces in a concerted effort to prevent the stadiums becoming white elephants.

The Peter Mokaba and the Mbombela Stadiums, in Lim-popo and Mpumalanga respectively, are in greater danger of being under-utilised.

Mpumalanga Black Aces, the only Premiership outfit in Mpumalanga, has opted to play at the Puma Rugby Stadium. There is no top-division team in Limpopo.

"We will be adopting the same approach in assisting the other stadiums. It is in the interest of all involved in South African football to see the stadiums survive," said Schloss.

It is not all doom and gloom for Mbombela, though. The Sunday Times has learnt that Bidvest Wits and Moroka Swallows are talking to authorities in Mpumalanga with a view to the Students and the Beautiful Birds staging some matches at the Mbombela Stadium.

Schloss said the PSL cannot dictate where teams play.

"It is up to each team to decide where they want to play. We can't force them. We will assist wherever we can but the bottom line is that it is the team's call. Our only involvement is to ensure that the facility they choose meets our requirements."

Staging double headers on Friday nights leaves a window of opportunity for Western Province rugby to revise their reluctant stance of moving from their traditional home of Newlands Stadium to the new venue and possibly playing Saturday matches at Cape Town Stadium.

[Rafa]

Cape Town Stadium: Premier League Fixtures 2010

August 27: Ajax Cape Town vs Bloemfontein Celtics & Vasco da Gama vs. Orlando Pirates September 17: Ajax Cape Town vs Platinum Stars

October 15: Ajax Cape Town vs Engen Santos

November 10: Ajax Cape Town vs Vasco da Gama

November 26: Ajax Cape Town vs BIDVest Wits

December 17: Ajax Cape Town vs Mamelodi Sundowns

[Rafa]

Record crowd at Soccer City in first post-World Cup event
Sat Aug 7, 2010 1:56pm GMT Print | Single Page [-] Text [+] 1 of 1Full Size By Mark Gleeson

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A record 87,000 spectators filed into Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium for South Africa's season-opening Charity Cup on Saturday, less than a month after the arena hosted the World Cup final.

The country's Premier Soccer League (PSL) said it had sold 80,000 seats for the one-day tournament, which features four teams in three separate matches, and handed out a further 7,000 complimentary tickets.

It was the first event at the stadium since Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 on July 11 to lift the World Cup. The attendance figure will be broken again in two weeks when a first-ever rugby match is hosted at the cavernous venue, which gained iconic status during the World Cup for its distinctive look, resembling a colourful African calabash or pot.

A 88,791-seat sellout for the Tri-Nations test between the Springboks and New Zealand's All Blacks on August 21 has already been announced.

Soccer City has a total capacity of 94,700 but during the World Cup only some 84,000 seats were sold because place was required for extensive media and VIP facilities.

The PSL is hoping heightened interest following the success of the World Cup will spark an increase in attendance for local league games, which have been poorly supported over the last decade.

"We certainly want to see the fans coming into the stadiums, we want to see all the people who were at the World Cup coming back and experiencing more," said the league's chief executive officer Kjetil Siem.

In an effort to capitalise on post-World Cup fever, the PSL announced it would kick off its league campaign on August 27 with two back-to-back matches at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, also built for the World Cup.

The stadium's capacity has been reduced to 52,000 with the removal of temporary seating installed for the World Cup. PSL spokesman Altaaf Kazi told Reuters they were confident of a sell-out crowd.

The new stadium in Durban will also be used for local league matches this season.

Saturday's Charity Cup traditionally opens the season with the country's four most popular clubs, voted for by public ballot, contesting two semi-finals and then a final, starting at 10 am local time and concluding well into the night.

Tickets for the day cost 50 and 70 South African rand (about $7-$10), less than half for the cheapest seat at the World Cup.

[Rafa]

Written by Lowvelder Editor - Thursday, 05 August 2010 15:39 It’s here! The first rugby match for the Mbombela Stadium and it’s going to be a big one. The Currie Cup fixture between the Barloworld Toyota Pumas and the raging Blue Bulls will play right here in the capital on August 27.
According to Roelf Kotzé of Platinum Sports, the Puma Rugby Union and Mbombela Stadium management, on behalf
of the Mbombela Local Municipality have successfully negotiated the staging of this first provincial rugby match.
The main game will start at 19:00, and two curtain-raisers involving the Puma u/19 and u/21 teams facing their SWD Eagles counterparts will also be played.
Tickets for the game will be on sale at Computicket from August 11 to be confirmed in Lowvelder and the prices will vary from R60 to R100, with special rates for children. Seats will be set aside at a reduced price on one of the stands for fans that cannot afford the ticket prices.
Hospitality suites are available for rental and various options are available and include catering.
There will be tables available for sale in the cafeteria where it is not necessary to rent the entire suite, but supporters who rent a table will have access to catering and bar services.
Seats in the business-class lounge will be on sale at Computicket where one or any number of seats can be purchased with access to a shared entertainment area with food and beverage sales available.
There will be event transportation, and Lowvelder will publish and announce information regarding parking and transport arrangements for the match day ahead of time.
Enquiries: Roelf Kotze on 013-757-4600 or Colette Victor on 012-460-4810.

[Rafa]

VIP suites sold out

Pretoria - It took only a day to sell out all the VIP suites at the Mbombela Stadium for the upcoming Currie Cup game between the Pumas and the Blue Bulls.

The stadium has 40 suites, which seat 32 people each and were booked out for R5 000 each, or R200 000 in total.

"On Thursday, we announced that seats to the VIP suites were available and all 40 suites... were sold out on Friday," said interim manager for the stadium, Roelf Kotze, this week.

Tickets for the game are on sale to the general public for between R60 and R100 through Computicket as of Wednesday.

The Pumas and Blue Bulls match will start at 19:00 on August 27 and there will be two curtain raisers in which the Pumas' Under-19 and Under-21 teams will play against the corresponding South Western District Eagles teams.

There were fears that the R1.4bn 43 500-seater stadium, which is owned by the Mbombela Municipality, will become a white elephant now that the 2010 Soccer World Cup is over.

The stadium was built specifically for the soccer showpiece and cost the province an additional R350 million to host four World Cup matches.

Since the end of the games, no rugby or soccer teams have expressed interest in using the stadium as a home base.

Kotze said it had since been decided not to rent out the stadium to any sports team, however, because at least 18 sports matches had already been booked at the stadium this year.

He said two rugby matches, one of which will include the Springboks, and six Professional Soccer League (PSL) matches, one of which will include Bafana Bafana, have already been confirmed to be played at the stadium.

Kotze said the stadium had also been booked for school soccer and rugby matches, marathons and other road races and conferences.

“Organisers of the events have shown interest in using the stadium and we are planning to host at least 33 sports matches a year at the stadium,” he said.

An international music entertainer will also be invited to perform at the stadium, he said, but he declined to identify the star.

The stadium is suitable for soccer and rugby matches and has the same dimensions as the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, where the rugby Super 14 finals were played recently.

Kotze said the stadium needed to be commercially sustainable, while still being accessible to the public. Potential income sources include naming rights, advertising boards, suite sales, season tickets, suite rental, sport events, commercial events and concerts.

“During the World Cup, Platinum Sport Consulting managed the stadium and is presently helping the municipality develop an operational model,” he said.

[Rafa]

New Zealand secure Tri-Nations in front of 90,000

IRB must be kicking themselves.


License All rights reserved by Jentymom

[Bezzi]

Will Soccer City become the Rugby City?

[Rafa]

The name will stay FNB stadium

[Rafa]

Premier League opener draws 42,000 to Cape Town Stadium Morné Esben | 5 Hours Ago Cape Town Stadium was expected to be packed for Friday evening’s double-header.<br style="font-family: Arial;">
Local newcomers Vasco da Gama take on Orlando Pirates in the first game at 18:00, while Ajax Cape Town face Bloemfontein Celtic at 20:45.

Nearly 42,000 tickets have been sold for the two Absa Premiership games.<br style="font-family: Arial;">
Organisers, police and emergency services gave the go-ahead for an additional 5,000 tickets to be made available on match day.<br style="font-family: Arial;">
SAIL/Stade de France spokesperson Morné du Plessis said, “They went on sale and in the first ten minutes a few hundred were sold. We are pretty sure that [the remaining seats] will be taken up and give us a crowd of around 45,000 tonight.”<br style="font-family: Arial;"><br style="font-family: Arial;">(Edited by Lisa Bartlett)

[Rafa]

Unfortunately Cape Town's match attendance was not followed up at other WC venues.

Cape Town 45,000
Durban 2,000
Ellis Park 700

In other goods news, Mbombela Stadium had close to 40,000 for the Bafana AFCON qualifier


Bafana in winning Nations Cup start
Brad Morgan

Share | 6 September 2010

Bafana Bafana top Group G of African Nations Cup 2012 qualifying after opening their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Niger at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday night.

South Africa could have won by many more goals given the number of opportunities they created, leading to coach Pitso Mosimane bemoaning his side's poor finishing after the game.

His concerns have a lot to do with three-time defending champions Egypt being in the same qualifying pool which, given the qualification criteria, makes goal difference an important factor. The group winners, hosts Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, and the three best second-place finishers will make the finals.


A big favour
Sierra Leone, however, did South Africa a big favour when they held the Pharoahs to a 1-1 draw in Cairo on Sunday. For Egypt, a draw at home is regarded as dropped points.

In Nelspruit, Bafana Bafana exhibited impressive industry and passing, but the bottom line is that it is goals that count and their finishing was not up to scratch. Despite this, there was a lot to be pleased about in their performance.

Coach Pitso Mosimane commented: "I'm happy that we created the chances, but obviously frustrated that we didn't take those chances.

"I think the result was a true reflection of the game because we had so many opportunities."

What Mosimane found difficult to understand was how his team could score a difficult goal, in the case of Bernard Parker's goal, but fail to find the back of the net with much easier chances.


'Strange'
"It's strange," he said. "The second goal by Bernard Parker was a brilliant one. It was a very difficult execution. But we can't finish the easy ones. In the training sessions we worked on finishing, finishing, finishing.

"But we have to be patient – a little bit of maturity and experience is needed."

Ultimately, though, Mosimane had said before the contest that it was "a win at all costs" game, and he got his wish.


Star of the show
Steven Pienaar was the star of the show for Bafana. His insightful passing stood out and he was responsible for setting up Katlego Mphela for South Africa's first goal.

Mphela, too, shone with his hard work and gave the Niger defence fits, but his finishing needs improvement. He combined well with Bernard Parker, whose goal just before half-time was a classy effort.

Bafana took charge of the match from the kick off and imposed their will, style, and pace on the play. Within the first five minutes Parker came close to opening the home team's account with a header, but Niger's goalkeeper Daouda Kassali pulled off a superb save to deny him.


Goal
It didn't take long for Bafana to break through, however, and it was Pienaar who provided the scoring pass after he had won the ball in the midfield. He laid on a wonderful ball that gave Mphela plenty of time and space to beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one.

The Sundowns' striker, showing good composure, chipped Kassali to score. It was his 18th goal in 37 internationals.

Niger created a single opportunity in the opening half, with Moussa Maazou letting fly from long range, but Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was up to the challenge.

Mpela used his strength to create another chance for himself 10 minutes before the break when he won a ball in midfield, beat a defender and shot. Kassali, though, denied him.


Lead doubled
Just before the half-time whistle, South Africa's advantage was doubled. Anele Ngcongca, who enjoyed a good game at right back, attacked down the flank and delivered an inviting cross.

Parker then got himself on the end of the ball and volleyed home sweetly with his left foot.

Bafana kept up the pressure after the restart and the excellent Pienaar played in Parker with a through ball, but the goalkeeper saved to his right. Pienaar created another chance, this time for Siphiwe Tshabalala, but Tshabalala's chip attempt passed over the crossbar.


Pienaar denied
With about 20 minutes to play, Pienaar tried to do the scoring himself, but Kassali, at full stretch, knocked the midfielder's shot away.

Despite South Africa's continuing efforts to add to their tally they couldn't find another goal.

The game ended as an emphatic 2-0 victory for Bafana Bafana, but it could have been so much more. However, Egypt's home draw with Sierra Leone helped shine a more favorable light on South Africa's victory.