The 1st test for South Africa and its preparations for the 2010 World Cup will be the 2009 Confederations Cup. The main focus will be the readiness of the stadiums and for the short tournament in June, 4 stadiums have been chosen to host Confederations Cup matches.
Loftus Versfeld Stadium – Tshwane/Pretoria
The stadium was named in 1932 after Robert Owen Loftus Versfeld who was the founder of organized sports in Pretoria. The site for the stadium was 1st used in 1906 and has been used for numerous sports events including the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 1996 CAF Africa Cup of Nations. It is home stadium for the Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club of the South African Premier League. After upgrades it will have a capacity of around 52,000.
Ellis Park – Johannesburg
Opened in 1928, Ellis Park is located in South Africa’s largest city and was named after J.D. Ellis, a Johannesburg city counselor who got the land for the stadium to be built. It was originally built for rugby union matches and witnessed the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in which the South Africa’s Springboks defeated New Zealand’s All Blacks 15-12. The stadium is also known as Coca-Cola Park and became the 1st black owned stadium in South Africa and is the home to the Orlando Pirates Football Club of the South African Premier League. After upgrades, the stadium capacity will reach 65,000.
Free State Stadium – Mangaung/Bloemfontein
Free State Stadium also known as Vodacom Park is the southernmost of the stadiums hosting the Confederations Cup. It is located in Maugaung aka Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province. The stadium hosted Africa Cup of Nations matches in 1996 and Rugby World Cup matches in 1995. It is the home stadium of the South African Premier League team, Bloemfontein Celtic. The capacity of the stadium after renovations will be around 48,000.
Royal Bafokeng Stadium – Rustenburg
The Royal Bafokeng Stadium was originally built as a rugby stadium and is named after the people native to the area. The Bafokeng people have grown rich via platinum mining in the area. In 1999, the Bafokeng won a legal settlement that gave them a 22 percent royalty on all platinum taken from their cultural land and because of this money, the stadium has been kept in excellent condition as only minor renovations will be needed. The stadium is only a 25 minute drive from the controversial Sun City resort and after the renovations & upgrades the stadium will have a capacity of about 42,000.
In June, the champions of FIFA’s confederations along with the host nation, South Africa and world champion, Italy will entertain us with some great football and confirm to the world that football is the beautiful game. More importantly, the 2009 Confederations Cup will give us a hint into South Africa’s preparations for The Great Tournament.
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Stadiums have being beautifully enhanced, the schedule has being set and the cup is ready to go! We will only miss Argentina’s Messi in this tournament.
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According to my perspective point of view the stadiums compared to the last world cups event hosts they are not attracting.
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