This week big time football comes to Cape Town, a city that often complains it doesn't get enough of an opportunity to host these sorts of games.
In fact, when the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban was announced as the venue for the MTN8 final, many Cape Town fans were up in arms that once again this prestigious match went elsewhere and not to the Mother City.
If you were a member of Soccer Laduma Supporters Club online, you would have read the interview with Luxolo September, the PSL Media Relations and Broadcast Manager.
Below is an excerpt from that interview with the full interview available for reading in the Supporters Club section of our website:
Clint: Thanks for taking the time to chat. The main reason for the call is that many readers of Soccer Laduma have questions as to why Moses Mabhida in Durban is the stadium of choice for a final between two Soweto teams.
Luxolo: Yes, the Soweto Derby… why are we taking it outside of Johannesburg? Quite simply, we are guided by the rules of the competition. The rules say we cannot play the final at the home venue of either of the teams in the final…
The next part of the interview will have Cape Town supporters spitting mad. I asked Lux the following question…
Clint: Many of our Cape Town soccer supporters are up in arms that they did not get the final. Was there any province that did not bid to host the final?
Luxolo: Cape Town.
Clint: Lux, thank you for clearing that up.
So my next port of call was the people that manage Cape Town Stadium. On Monday I spoke to some of the management team who gave me an email address to which I sent the following email:
As per discussion, the question Cape Town soccer supporters would like answered is why Cape Town was the only city that did not bid to host the MTN8 final, especially in light of the fact that the city has a world-class soccer stadium that is very underutilized and constantly comes under scrutiny for the fact that it costs the City so much to run, but stands empty and unused.
If you could get back to me this morning, that would be great.
Later on Monday afternoon, the Bafana tickets that Soccer Laduma secured for the winning members of a competition we ran in Supporters Club arrived and I was concerned that not a single ticket had a seat number on it, just a section number.
Once again I sent an email to the Cape Town Stadium management…
Was wondering when I would be receiving the response to the question about the MTN8.
Also it seems the tickets to the Bafana game on Wednesday do not have seat numbers on them – what is the reason for this and how can groups ensure they are able to sit together?
For example, as a company we have bought 30 tickets to the game. How are we going to all sit together if we can't block book?
To which the reply came:
I will have to check with the relevant officials on developments surrounding the MTN8 bid, and a response will be sent through to you.
With regard to the ticketing plan for the upcoming game, tickets are being sold in blocks and seating is unreserved. This will enable you to buy 30 tickets in one of the color-coded blocks and sit together as a group. It will require a coordinated arrival plan on your side. I trust this is of help.
Now, maybe I'm being pedantic about this, but for me this is unacceptable for a match of this magnitude. I've never been to a major sporting event in my life where my ticket simply instructed me to a section of the stadium and then directed me to just sit wherever I could find space – "fend for yourself", as it were. Certainly the World Cup in South Africa did not operate like this. Football in Europe does not operate like this. Why on earth would it be like this for an international soccer game at Cape Town Stadium? As a company, we have specifically booked seats together so we can go as a group, but there may not be 30 seats available to sit together, so what was meant to be a group outing becomes a futile exercise.
But that's just us. What about the father who is bringing his three young boys to watch a game. He has to work so he can't get to the stadium an hour before, and when he arrives at his section, he can't find more than two seats available next to each other, requiring him and his four kids to split up for what should have been a great family event.
I'm disappointed and hope something will be done about it. Considering that the people with the power to do something were they put in the same circumstances will be far removed, sitting in the VIP section of the stadium, I doubt we will see a change anytime soon.
But it won't stop me from going to the stadium to get behind Bafana to watch the Shakes, Rattle and Goal Show.
Shapa, Clint
