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Transformation for South Africa’s Stadiums
June 12, 2009

Loftus Versveld stadium in Pretoria. (Photo: AP) Loftus Versveld stadium in Pretoria. (Photo: AP)
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Johannesburg. All four FIFA Confederations Cup venues have staged rugby union matches recently, triggering a last-minute rush to get then ready for the 2010 World Cup dress rehearsal starting on Sunday.

The touring British and Irish Lions rugby team played in Rustenburg, Johannesburg, and Bloemfontein and the Northern Bulls won the Southern Hemisphere Super 14 provincial competition in Pretoria.

The schedule left football officials with little time for “transformation” as sponsor logos and pitch markings had to disappear and grass length reduced in preparation for the two-week “festival of champions.”

“Enormous changes had to take place within a very limited amount of time,” said Derek Blankensee, the head of competition for the local organizing committee.

“We used solvent and water to get rid of the sponsor logos and rugby line markings, although it proved more difficult than initially expected,” he said.

Rugby players prefer longer grass than footballers — it cushions the body as it crashes to the ground regularly in a highly physical sport, and protects the pitch from the damage of set pieces like scrums.

Footballers favor short, even grass, especially teams fond of a passing game like Brazil, which will be defending the Confederations Cup in South Africa after defeating Argentina 4-1 four years ago.

Stadium sharing has been a feature of South African sport for many years as a legacy of apartheid left few top-class football venues for international competition while there was an abundance of excellent rugby venues.

Domestic football is followed largely by the majority black population while the traditional support base of rugby is white and Afrikaner, apart from the black-dominated Eastern Cape region.

South Africa is building football stadiums in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Polokwane and Port Elizabeth for the 2010 World Cup, and rugby venues in Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria will also be used.

Blanckensee stressed that the organizers would not face the same problems at the World Cup as rugby has canceled its traditional midyear test matches in South Africa during 2010 to smooth the organizers’ path.

Formerly a symbol of the racial divide, football and rugby now work together, with the itinerary of the British Lions changed to assist the Confederations Cup organizers.

“We have enjoyed fantastic cooperation from rugby officials and will go out of our way to assist them with their 2015 Rugby World Cup bid,” said organizing committee chief Danny Jordaan.



Agence France-Presse