2010 FIFA World Cup™
Host cities announced for South Africa 2010
(FIFA.com)
17 Mar 2006
At FIFA's Executive Committee meeting on Friday 17 March 2006, the host cities and stadiums proposed by the South African Local Organising Committee were formally approved.
In total there will be 10 stadiums used in the nine host cities. Four new stadiums will be built -Cape Town (Greenpoint Stadium), Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium), Durban (King's Park Stadium) and Nelspruit (Mbombela Stadium)-, with the remaining six being upgraded -Rustenburg (Royal Bafokeng Stadium), Bloemfontein (Free State Stadium), Pretoria (Loftus Versfeld Stadium) Polokwane (Peter Mokaba Stadium) and Johannesburg (Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadiums).
Check out the new South Africa 2010 section now, and don't forget to come back on Saturday morning to find out all about the ten venues.
In his State of the Nation address for the month of February, President Thabo Mbeki announced: "In return for the irreplaceable benefits of hosting a World Cup, we owe it to FIFA and the rest of the soccer world to prepare properly for 2010."
The momentum for this preparation started on Friday 17 March when FIFA's Executive Committee met at FIFA House in Zurich. One of the topics on the agenda was the decision on host cities and stadiums to be used at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The Committee ratified the host cities and stadiums proposed by the South African Local Organising Committee.
At the press conference held after the Executive meeting, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter said: "The FIFA Executive Committee have confirmed the nine cities and 10 stadiums available for the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010. You can see that even though Germany 2006 has not started yet, 2010 is already in full operation!"
The CEO of the South African Local Organising Committee, Danny Jordaan, said: "The announcement of the host cities in South Africa is the first concrete step taken in the delivery of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The cities' co-operation and enthusiasm is unparalleled and signals the determination of the host cities to be wonderful hosts and deliver world class infrastructure with African sensation."
The early announcement is a positive move for the South African host cities as they can go to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ and learn from their German counterparts. The cities will now start dealing with infrastructural challenges such as airport upgrades, building or upgrading their stadiums, and improving transportation networks to handle the football fans that will flock into South Africa.
South Africa won the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ after narrowly missing out to Germany for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. South Africa have hosted the IRB Rugby World Cup, the ICC Cricket World Cup and the CAF Africa Cup of Nations but this will be the first time the beautiful game's showpiece event will be held on African soil.
