Johannesburg: South Africa must persuade its top rugby teams to use the new World Cup stadiums if the impressive infrastructure is to remain sustainable, top local officials have said.
But while the world champion Springboks are set to play their archrivals, the New Zealand All Blacks, at Soccer City next month, other rugby sides are reluctant to move from their homes to the new stadiums, indicating tough prospects ahead for the future upkeep of the new venues.
"I think that clearly there will have to be good balance of both football and rugby together to ensure proper use of the stadiums," said Danny Jordaan, the chief organiser of South Africa's hosting of the World Cup.
"The premier soccer league also needs to relook at the profile of its teams and make them more attractive to all sectors of the population," he said.
Six new venues were built for the month-long World Cup (June 11-July 11), including a complete overhaul of Soccer City. Four other venues were renovated, three of them traditional rugby stadiums.
The South African Rugby Union are to this week announce they host the August 21 test against New Zealand at Soccer City, the first time a rugby match will be played at the stadium, which hosts next Sunday's World Cup final.
"It is going to be easier for some cities than for others to make their stadiums works but there must be engagement with all stakeholders," Jordaan told Reuters.
Opportunities
Private operators have been appointed to run the stadiums in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg after the World Cup while tenders for stadium management companies to handle the stadiums in Durban and Polokwane are due out soon.
"There are a lot of opportunities that could be exploited by stadium operators," said Ndavhe Ramakuela, who heads the 2010 office of the Polokwane municipality.
"Football clubs are keen, for example, to come and use our stadium on a regular basis."
But Polokwane does not have its own local team, the nearest based in Pretoria some two hours drive away.
Nor does it have a rugby franchise, although the Super 14 champions Blue Bulls, usually based at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld, have hosted minor matches in Polokwane in the past.
It raises fears incidental use will not be enough to avoid the stadium becoming a ‘white elephant'. Nelspruit is another city with neither a football nor rugby team and the future of its new stadium is uncertain.
Municipal officials previously told Reuters they would continue to run the Mbombela Stadium and would seek to expand it into a multi-sports arena.
In Cape Town, the Stormers have already rejected enticements to move from Newlands, the city's rugby home for more than a century, to the Green Point Stadium, now being run by a joint venture company, half owned by Stade de France.
