Paarl World Cup hopes fading?
2010-01-28
Lise Beyers
PAARL’s hopes of becoming a host town to a competing team during the 2010 Soccer World Cup is systematically becoming pie in the sky. By the end of last year, all 32 teams had to submit their first three choices of base camps to Fifa, and many seem to prefer the north. To date, Paarl has not been picked by any team. Although the base camps have not been finalised, some deals have already been settled as to where the big guns will be training during the mid-year World Cup. England has scooped up the cream of base-camps, namely the plush Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus in Rustenburg in the North West Province, while another favourite, the Dutch team, have already indicated that their home will be Johannesburg for the duration of the 2010 World Cup. Argentina will make their home in Pretoria, together with Germany close by in Centurion. While Italy and and the United States also have their sites on the Highveld. Bloemfontein, of all places, will host all time heroes, Brazil. Although the French, Danes, Japanese and Paraguayans are heading for the coast, the Cape seems not to be in their, or other teams’, sights. The reason for this is the strong likelihood of rain at the Cape during the World Cup and the altitude factor. Sportsmen prefer to practise in high altitude areas, as this improves their fitness. By Sunday, it is expected that the teams will have finalised contracts as to where they will be based for the duration of the 2010 World Cup, and it is yet to be seen whether Drakenstein will feature here at all.
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