A three-year deal to host the inaugural Cape Town Cup soccer tournament at the Cape Town Stadium, will net the city about R200 million in cumulative value.
|||A three-year deal to host the inaugural Cape Town Cup soccer tournament at the Cape Town Stadium, with international teams, will net the city about R200 million in cumulative value.
Garreth Bloor, mayoral committee member for tourism, events and economic development, said the event was critical for the economy and the long-term sustainability of the stadium.
“Events play a pivotal role in generating visitor expenditure and growing our local economy. In addition, soccer is a unifying sport and events like these bring residents from all walks of life together,” said Bloor.
The four teams which will compete in the tournament are Ajax Cape Town (as hosts), SuperSport United, Crystal Palace from England, and Portugal’s Sporting Clube de Portugal.
The tournament will take place on July 24 and 26.
Anton Groenewald, the city’s executive director of tourism, events and economic development, said the hosting of a pre-season tournament with international teams was part of the city’s strategy to make the stadium and Cape Town an attractive option even for the off-peak winter period.
“We are working to get global (media) coverage of the Cape Town Cup so that we can position this iconic stadium, and Cape Town as the events capital in Africa.”
He said it was estimated that eight to 12 percent of the tickets would be sold to spectators from outside of South Africa.
Work is under way on lifting legislative restrictions that prevent the stadium from being used for commercial activities.
The stadium, which cost R4.5 billion to build for the 2010 World Cup, has been running at a loss since Sail de France pulled out of its contract to manage the venue.
Phil Alexander, of Crystal Palace, said yesterday at Cape Town Stadium that he would be bringing a strong team to contest the Cape Town Cup next month.
Crystal Palace will play against SuperSport FC in the opener at 5.45pm. Sporting Clube de Portugal and Ajax will play at 8.15pm in the evening’s second match.
The tournament will resume on Sunday, July 26, with the losing teams from Friday’s double-header playing each other at 1pm. The final, featuring the winning teams, will take place at 3.30pm.
When asked if the London-based football club would contribute in any way to improving Cape Town Stadium’s financial outlook, given that the venue is running at asubstantial annual loss, Alexander said: “We are coming. We will be playing our part by coming along (to the tournament).”
Ari Efstathiou, chief executive officer of Ajax Cape Town, said the city had embraced football and worked for 18 months to get the project approved, despite huge challenges. “We are very excited to take part and there is no doubt it will be a fantastic occasion.”
Ticket prices ranging from R200 to R400 for the double-headers on the Friday and the Sunday have remained unchanged since Manchester City played against Ajax at Cape Town Stadium in 2012.
Cape Town struck a deal with Ajax last year for Cape Town Stadium to be the club’s homeground for the next three seasons.
The city carries the stadium’s direct cost of R3m as well as service costs for these games. In turn, the sales from the games is paid to the city until the R3m in direct costs has been recouped. - Cape Argus
anel.lewis@inl.co.za
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