Drakenstein launches soccer host bid
2006-11-23
“WE have an elephant to skin, but we cannot skin it alone - we need your help. This elephant is big enough to feed all of us.”
With these words municipal manager of Drakenstein, Dr Sidima Kabanyane, impressed the importance for the local business community of obtaining a slice of the Soccer World Cup Tournament in 2010 during a meeting on Monday night.
At the meeting, the Drakenstein Municipality laid its plans on the table with regards to hosting a participating soccer team during the tournament in order to reap both the financial and social rewards that such a coup will bring about.
The Municipality is currently preparing for presentations to major European soccer nations to showcase their facilities, convincing them to use the area for pre-tournament prepareations.
“The idea is to highlight the benefits they will enjoy if it came to our area. In our presentations, we highlight the preparedness of our facilities for Fan Zones and training, which are of international standards,” said the Mayor of Drakenstein, Charmaine Manuel.
“For us, the economic benefits are immense. Tourism will receive a major boost, while giving the local population the opportunity to benefit directly from the tournament. More importantly, the legacy that will stay on after the event will be huge.”
Driving the campaign is the Drakenstein World Cup Promotion Committee, headed by town councillor Arthob Petersen.
The objectives of the campaign are to market the municipality internationally as an ideal venue to set up base camp in preparation for the tournament; to establish and foster good relations with the SA 2010 Local Organising Committee; to ensure that Drakenstein Municipality derives maximum exposure and financial benefit from the tournament; to utilise the tournament to foster better community relations; to demonstrate the social impact soccer could have on rural communities and to achieve the support and buy-in of the local residents.
Plans are underway to upgrade the Boland Rugby Stadium into a 15 000-seater stadium, thus meeting the Fifa requirements of serving as a practice field for a visiting World Cup soccer team.
The bill for this venture will be met by Fidentia, currently the head sponsor of Boland Rugby.
Fidentia has also bought the Hawequa Youth Centre in Bain’s Kloof which will be upgraded to a high performance sports facility.
These two venues will be promoted by the Drakenstein Promotion Committee in their overseas campaign to countries of the United European Football Association (Uefa) next year.
Similarly the Boland Park cricket stadium in Paarl will be promoted as an ideal venue for a “Fan Fest” or public viewing area for 2010.
“Boland Cricket would like to acquire the portion of land adjacent to the stadium to further develop the stadium. They intend erecting a sport warehouse where all sporting attire and accessories will be sold, as well as convenience shops for the neighbourhood,” Petersen explained.
Petersen also added that as part of the World Cup 2010 legacy, as the Municipality would not have the financial burden of upgrading the mentioned stadiums, they would endeavour to upgrade a number of council stadia and facilities in Mbekweni, Weltevreden, Daljosafat and Faure Streets.
The South African Football Association has identified nine towns in the Western Cape at which a base camp could be set up, once the preliminary draw announcement has been made in November next year.
Petersen warned against complacency: “Our competitors in this field are not only towns in the Western Cape and other provinces, but also cities around Africa.”
Fifa regulations state that a team can be encamped within two hours' flight of their match venue. This puts towns like George in reach of teams playing in Cape Town.
Also present at the meeting was Western Cape Minister of Sport, Whitey Jacobs.
Jacobs mentioned that in an effort to promote the Western Cape, the provincial government had been in discussions with clubs like Portugal’s FC Porto and Ajax Amsterdam. These clubs have been invited to make the region their base during their annual practice camps in June next year.
Ajax Amsterdam has already accepted one such invite and will visit the Western Cape in early January.
Similar discussions are in progress with Spanish clubs.
Players from across the world are part of these teams and the Western Cape Government hopes they will go back to their own countries and coaches with a favourable view of the region.
Said Petersen: “We need the involvement of all roleplayers, while the Municipality will have to act speedily to put the relevant processes in place, otherwise we will miss out on a golden opportunity.
“It is my firm belief that we are up to the task. Our duty as local government is to ensure that the benefits of the 2010 World Cup opportunity accrue to all,” Petersen said.
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