THOHOYANDOU – The CEO of the 2010 World Cup Soccer Bid Committee, Mr. Danny Jordan, said the 2010 World Cup will be a huge commercial success for all South Africans.

He said this during his presentation on the Impact of the 2010 World Cup on the lives of ordinary people in the Limpopo province, at the University of Venda on Wednesday last week.

Jordan indicated that 64 official matches will be played during the World Cup at 10 venues. “Forty training venues will be available and a number of friendly games will be staged. About 235 000 visitors are expected and this will benefit our country financially…”

Good news to the Limpopo Province is that the Peter Mokaba Stadium is one of the proposed match venues for the big event. It is envisaged that four matches will be played at the stadium and this will benefit the province economically.

Jordan said 2,8 million tickets will be sold during the event and this will have a positive impact on the commercial status of the country. “Roughly 129 000 jobs will be created and approximately 40 billion viewers will watch the event in 204 countries. We are busy with special conferences and workshops for the preparations of the big event. We have concluded contracts with global partners Sony, Hyundai, Adidas, Coca Cola and Emirates. We are sure that the event will be a huge success because we have world class stadiums and the best technology…”

Jordan further said the world cup activities are grouped into four areas, namely: Setting up of Local Organizing Committees (LOC), Legal matters, host city preparations and workshops.

In conclusion, he indicated that the country will spend over R15 billion ahead of the historic event. “The money will be used in the building, upgrading and renovation of match venues, training facilities and the supporting infrastructure, such as roads, hotels, hospitals and banking facilities. The infrastructure from the cities marked as host cities will cost about R12,6 billion while the building and upgrading of match venues is projected to cost R3,6 billion and training facilities will need close to R1 billion…”