Didi Moyle, acting CEO of SA Tourism, welcomed the players and fans attending the Confederations Cup. “Let the games begin”, she said. The FIFA Confederations Cup runs until 28 June, and will be played in Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and Pretoria.
“South African Tourism welcomes players and fans to South Africa. We’re excited about the tournament, not only because it offers our industry a truly incredible opportunity to showcase our destination, but also because it gives us a chance to show off our infrastructure and to have our visitors witness the effort that we have put into preparing for this world class event,” she added, as reported in Travelwires. “We are beyond ready. People now need to come and celebrate with us, this magnificent feat of being able to host these sporting events,” she added.
The opening Confederations Cup match between South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team and Iraq was broadcast by SABC 1, and more than half the commentary was in a vernacular language not understood by a large part of the local population, which could lead to a lack of interest in watching the other games in the series. Close to 50 000 soccer fans saw the match in Johannesburg. The Iraqi team coach was interviewed by the SABC after the match, and he answered questions in Spanish after the match, which the interviewer also did not understand! The Bafana Bafana coach went into hiding, and did not make his interview. The second match of the day was won 5 – 0 by Spain against New Zealand, to an almost empty Rustenberg stadium, begging the question if the stadium is a white elephant!
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