Nov 30 - Five South African cities will host only
first-round matches in next year's World Cup, so they will hope
to get some of the biggest teams and best games when the draw is
made on Friday.
Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Polokwane and Rustenburg are all at
high altitude. The first three could be bitterly cold at night
during the tournament although Rustenburg has mild, sunny,
southern hemisphere winters. Nelspruit is in the hot, dry low
veldt and should be comfortable.
Most of the World Cup managers are thought to be planning
training camps around Pretoria, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein and
Johannesburg to prepare their players for the thinner air.
Following are brief profiles of the group-stage venues:
PRETORIA
South Africa's administrative capital, where presidents are
sworn in at the imposing hilltop Union Buildings. The city was
headquarters of the apartheid state and Nelson Mandela's 1994
inauguration there had great symbolic significance. Despite
still being the capital, this is a small, quiet city,
overshadowed by nearby Johannesburg. The approach from the south
is dominated by the hulking Voortrekker Monument, a symbol of
Afrikaner rule, which commemorates the 1838 defeat of 12,000
Zulus by a small Boer force.
LOFTUS VERSFELD stadium, one of the country's oldest, has
been revamped and has a capacity of 50,000. It is the home of
two of South Africa's big soccer teams, the Mamelodi Sundowns
and SuperSport United, as well the Blue Bulls rugby club. Six
matches will be played here.
BLOEMFONTEIN
South Africa's judicial capital, seat of the country's
highest court and capital of Free State -- a staunchly Afrikaans
province -- it has many stately old buildings. Bloemfontein,
which means "Fountain of Flowers" in Dutch, is in the centre of
the country near mountainous Lesotho. As one of the highest
venues, at nearly 1,400 metres, it is likely to be cold next
June, especially at night. Mangaung, the new name for the
municipality, means "Place of the Cheetahs" in the Sesotho
language.
FREE STATE STADIUM is one of the smaller venues, being
upgraded to a capacity of 45,000 and until recently better known
for its Cheetahs rugby team. Fans of the Bloemfontein Celtics
soccer club, whose players wear a similar strip to their
Scottish namesakes, are known as some of the country's most
enthusiastic and noisy supporters. Six matches scheduled.
NELSPRUIT
This eastern city and Polokwane in the north are the two
smallest host venues and World Cup organisers say many fans will
probably have to be ferried in and out by buses and planes for
big matches because of accommodation shortages.
Nelspruit is capital of the northeastern Mpumalanga province
that borders Mozambique and Swaziland. It is the centre of South
Africa's big citrus fruit industry and gateway to its most
famous game park, the Kruger. This is an area of beautiful
mountains and waterfalls.
MBOMBELA, the first international-standard stadium in the
province, has an atmospheric setting, nestling in low hills,
with 18 orange roof supports resembling giraffes. But
construction has been dogged by controversy and scandal,
including the murder of a local council politician who blew the
whistle on alleged graft. Residents of a run-down township next
to the stadium have clashed with police in protests over failure
to replace schools displaced by the construction and broken
promises to deliver electricity, water and other services.
Authorities say they will solve these problems before June.
Capacity 46,000. Four matches to be played here.
POLOKWANE
Capital of Limpopo province bordering Mozambique, Zimbabwe
and Botswana, and the smallest World Cup venue with a population
of only 140,000. Polokwane, a drab small town on the road to
Zimbabwe from Johannesburg, is one of the high venues, at 1,300
metres. The area is home of the fabled Rain Queen and also of
Africa's totemic "upside-down" baobab tree.
The town became famous as the venue for a congress of the
ruling African National Congress (ANC) in late 2007 at which
Jacob Zuma was elected leader of the party, deposing Thabo Mbeki
and eventually becoming South Africa's president last April.
PETER MOKABA stadium, next to an old rugby arena, has been
newly built with a capacity of 45,000 and will host four
matches. The corner support pillars have been built to resemble
baobab trees. Critics say Nelspruit and Polokwane stadiums, far
from the footballing centre of South Africa and with no premier
league team to host, will be expensive white elephants and the
money should have been spent to improve conditions for the poor.
Both regions have been hit by violent protests against failure
to deliver basic services to the black population 15 years after
the end of apartheid.
RUSTENBURG
Centre of the world's biggest platinum mining area in the
foothills of the Magaliesburg mountains, northwest of
Johannesburg. The city is close to two tourist attractions, the
Pilanesberg game park and Sun City, a cross between Las Vegas
and Disneyland and an unabashed temple to kitsch.
The ROYAL BAFOKENG stadium is named after the people of the
area, who are one of Africa's richest tribes because of
platinum. It has a capacity of 42,000. Six matches to be played
here. The stadium, home of the Platinum Stars premier league
soccer club, is situated in Phokeng, the Bafokeng capital, with
modern sports facilities and training fields built by the king,
Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi. Many reports say England plan to base
themselves here.
(Writing by Barry Moody; Editing by Justin Palmer; To query
or comment on this story email
sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
((barry.moody@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 3321; Reuters
messaging: barry.moody.reuters.com@reuters.net; For the Reuters
sports blog Left Field go to: http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/))
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