Tag Archives: Sepp Blatter

Cape Town Stadium ready for action

The new Cape Town Stadium has been completed and handed over by the building contractors to the City of Cape Town, reports the Cape Argus.

The R 4,5 billion stadium has had all its seats installed, the grass pitch has been grown from seeds planted 2 weeks ago, the outer facade has been recleaned and painted after the storms over the past ten days dirtied some of the exterior, and the signage erected, all in time for the roofwetting party.

The stadium allows spectators a good view onto the pitch.   Spectators will not be more than 190 meters away from the soccer action.  Two special VIP boxes are contained in the stadium – one for FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and the other one is speculated to be for President Jacob Zuma.

The stadium construction commenced two years ago.  Three events will be held at the Cape Town Stadium in the first half of next year, to test it before the 2010 World Cup. 

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com

Obama and Blatter meeting marketing boost for SA

USA President Barack Obama and FIFA President Sepp Blatter meet in the White House today, and Blatter will be extending his personal invitation for Obama to attend the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 

Obama’s acceptance of the invitation, to which he has hinted at already, will be a huge marketing boost for South Africa, and for the 2010 World Cup.

“I know there are people around the president who are football fans, and that they will make everything possible in his agenda that the president be at the opening of the World Cup or the final,” Blatter said to Associated Press.

Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com

Tourism Minister supports small accommodation MATCH concerns

The Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, has acknowledged the concerns the small accommodation sector has regarding the MATCH rates and the cancellation policy for the 2010 World Cup.   

Business Report reported as follows on 8 July:

“Onerous conditions imposed by Match, the Fifa agency tasked with securing 55000 rooms for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, remained a problem for small hotel operators, Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said this week. 

The minister said that with more than a 100 000 graded rooms in SA, the country had more than enough accommodation for next year’s tournament, but many small operators were reluctant to sign over their stock to Match as they were unhappy with the contract conditions. 

“The industry has raised concerns about the price level offered by Match as well as its escape clause,” Van Schalkwyk said in an interview. 

“Many feel they can do better by holding on to their rooms. While we will continue to work with Fifa and Match to secure enough rooms, it is a free market, and we as government cannot interfere.” 

Addressing Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s concerns about the lack of available rooms in Bloemfontein, the minister said it was not a shortage of hotel rooms but rather a transport problem. 

“We realised that we could not approach private sector players to build hotels where there would be no demand beyond 2010. 

“So we had to come up with a way of transporting fans to the host cities, and the focus is on making sure we have the transport infrastructure in place for next year.”

The Whale Cottage Portfolio has expressed its concerns about MATCH and its unsuitable contract as far as Small Accommodation establishments go from the time that MATCH started doing industry presentations more than two years ago.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

SA receives 75% score from FIFA for Confederations Cup

FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke has rated South Africa as 8/10 on its readiness to stage the 2010 World Cup from 11 June to 11 July next year, reports the Cape Times.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter downsized the score to 75 % at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup.

The FIFA rating is based on the country’s current organisation and hosting of the Confederations Cup, for which the final was played on Sunday evening.   “The organisation from the LOC has been really top class.  What is more pleasing is the players are returning to their countries with a good opinion of South Africa, the people, fans, stadiums, hotels, and training facilities.  That is the best advert we could hope for”, Valcke said.

Blatter added that the Confederations Cup had been well run and that FIFA is looking forward to a “hugely successful 2010 World Cup”, reports the Cape Times.

Incidents such as a strike by volunteers at Ellis Park, and the alleged theft of cash from the Egyptian team players’ rooms have been effectively dealt with.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that crime could happen in any country:   “Players being robbed  is sad, but it can happen anywhere in the world – even in the United States.   We take as many precautions as possible, but I am satisfied fans, teams, and the public will be safe during the 2010 World Cup.”   At the media briefing at the conclusion of the Confederations Cup, Blatter did not refer to crime as one of the issues that need to be addressed for the 2010 World Cup.

Blatter said that he hoped to give South Africa a score of 10/10 in 2010.

Further problems which the Confederations Cup highlighted is a shortage of 15 000 beds in Bloemfontein, and problems with the park-and-ride system in Johannesburg.   FIFA has also highlighted that it does not wish the new soccer stadia to become “white elephants” after 2010.

Valcke said the the teams, the players and the officials who are part of the Confederations Cup will be South Africa’s best ambassadors for 2010.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com