First Image of the Cape Town 2010 World Cup Stadium
by Fred on 10/05/07 at 9:30 am
16 comments
For our international readers, you may or may not know that Cape Town is building a new stadium for the 2010 Football World Cup. The politics behind the construction has read like a cross between ‘Days of Our Lives’ and a John Grisham novel.
[Thanks Andrew]
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. He runs a web marketing company called World Wide Creative and loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. View more articles by Fred.
Saberi
May 10th, 2007
The politics has been crazy, I agree. But the amount of people out there who “judge books by their covers” is alarming. The picture hints that you are of the opinion that building a new stadium is not justified and won’t be used after the event. Possibly. I always thought that it was a case of managing the facility and building that into a sustainable business. Imagine how many more international events we can attract to the stadium after the event. Think of the possibilities.
Did you know that renovations to the Frankfurt airport were incomplete at the time of the German Football World Cup? I thought all German project managers were efficient and lived up to any other stereotype that the Germans hold. It make me wonder if the negativity is a continuation of the negative stereotypes of Africa and South Africans. In that case, it is sad that our nationals are perpetuating it instead of taking the opportunity to disprove everyone.
I’m not making excuses for anyone. Just saying that people’s expectations are unjustifiably skewed to the negative when it comes to the future and current efforts of the World Cup LOC.
I’ll bet that if we do not succeed, its going to be because of a human energy factor and not a logistics one.
SM
Fred
May 10th, 2007
You know what? I agree 100%!! I actually had second thoughts about posting this the minute it went up.
To be clear, I’m not dissing the South African attempt at getting ready for the big event. I think the fact that an ‘Environmental Objection’ was lodged the day construction started was laughable, but, I’m stoked that things are happening. There are major Infrastructure projects going on; public transport is being jacked up, and even the service industry is starting to sit up and take notice.
Good things are happening. The next post I publish about 2010 will be more positive, promise!!
tripeak
May 10th, 2007
Very good point Saberi! I completely agree with what you’re saying and ultimately I do think people’s perceptions need to change to be more patriotic in a sense. I must however add that the current perceptions seems to be justified and you don’t even have to follow what they say in the media… just look at the miss management of other big projects currently on the go… especially in Gauteng.
At the end of the day I guess we should not look at what the problems are but what the solutions to those could be.
Ron
May 11th, 2007
There have been some interesting studies released about the attitudes about 2010 – check out:
http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/countdown/765187.htm and
http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Media_Release-311.phtml
I’m one of the those who believe SA will host the event successfully – come hell or high-water (or more appropriately – strikes and power failures) but its going to take a lot of hard work. I have less optimism about Bafana Bafana reaching the quarterfinals…
Saberi
May 11th, 2007
Its a fundamental principle to form current opinion based on previous performance. The pinnacle of the investment industry. I wonder how confident people were in Sasol when it started up? What about Google?
People for get this very easily. Some of the construction jobs were awarded to companies that aren’t that experienced.
But there is no excuse for poor management and no business innovation.
For a 13 year old child, South Africa isn’t doing too bad. What do you think?
SM
Sam
May 11th, 2007
How about this – we are all pawns in a game most would be reluctant to believe even exists … because no one likes to admit s/he is being played! This is not about soccer its about how much money FIFA can make and how much the rats and mice are skinning off the deal thinking that they are getting the lion’s share …. its about politics and ego – the lives of Cape Townians will forever be changed – I leave it to you to guess which way this will go – the 2010 stadium will forever be known as Zilla’s folly – while our already overtaxed pockets are drained further to pay for political flair. The rand continues to dwindle, foreign investment goes to China – what are you thinking when you say ‘for a 13 year old child, SA isn’t doing too bad? – by the way the correct use of the English language is ‘badly’!
Frank Zappa
May 11th, 2007
FIFA is a business, and like any other business, their main objective is to make a substantial profit. If one looks at previous FIFA World Cup events, it becomes clear that some were more profitable than others for the host country, whilst others were not profitable at all. However, the massive value available for a host country in terms of marketing itself to the outside world is immeasurable. This is where the real value of the event lies, in my opinion. It’s an opportunity to market South Africa and generate much needed foreign investment.
Sam, your post is devalued by your sarcastic comment regarding Saberi’s command of the English language. Forums like this are there to debate issues, not the people posting. I suspect English may not be Saberi’s first language and I can’t help but wonder how proficient you are in South Africa’s ten other official languages, to feel you can be so critical? Can you even name them all? Nevertheless, since you are a stickler for the correct use of the English language, here are a few pointers you may enjoy:
1) The Cape Town mayor’s surname is “Zille� not “Zilla�.
2) The correct spelling of “Rand� requires the use of a capital “R�.
3) In your sentence “its about politics and ego�, the correct spelling of “its� would actually be “it’s�.
thinking
May 11th, 2007
lol for sam!
this 2010 stadium is about opportunity! unfortunately people in Cape Town are so far removed fom the rest of the country and weve lost our drive and passion for ‘the new south africa!’ any other country around the world awarded this enormous opportunity would be going crazy with excitement, we however seem to contsantly point fingers and dwell!
we can only look at the professionalism within a laid back south african manner the project is contuining with… less than 24hours after the contract was signed construction teams were on site working! there is an office availabe for complaints to the building team (obviously not about noise but for example the cleaning of fritzsonnenberg road, which was achieved).
i think the long term effect of this massive investment in the country and cape town will not be felt by anyone of us sitting on this website, it will be felt by the person whose daily commute to the CBD and back is reduced by 25% based on the new transport infrastructure (which is only one benefit).
I agree with Saberi, if your not interested in being positive and contributing back to the country its time to move away. The south african context might be frought with challenges, however the level of competetion is higher and the room for entrepreneur is smaller in most first world countries.
Saberi
May 12th, 2007
Hi
Sam: See Frank’s comments on grammar. I don’t consider contributions made in a discussion forum to warrant the use of a spell checker, since it is a light-hearted discourse I intended to pursue, regarding a topical subject. Es ist besser das du nicht jemand critizieren fuer Grammatische ferler, zondern nach die Anzeige zu hoeren.
Frank: I agree with you whole-heartedly w.r.t. the value achieved from the marketing effort. People are placing more emphasis on the value of the “hard-stuff” (the Rands and cents, income, expediture and profit). But what is even more difficult to value is the goodwill generated from lead-up to -, the execution of – and the reconciliation after the world cup event.In the same stream as brand valuation. I know, because part of what I do is to put a value to intellectual property to quantify its worth. Try not to be so hard on Sam. He has an opinion and the right to express it.
Thinking: Agree on the opportunity message. The opportunity is often easier seen with a clear mind and conscience, than with one that is prejudiced not to.
Dave
May 21st, 2007
Very late in getting to this topic as I’ve been away for a while, VERY funny photo, I burst out laughing it has to be said!
Saberi, your analogy that Frankfurt airport was not ready is ridiculous. German airports are the best in the world, they’re amazing!! Germany has about 5 world class international airports. SA doesn’t even have one!! I know, I travel a lot, A LOT!
An Airport doesn’t make or break a world cup, thats for sure, but when you only have one (two at most) international arrival airports it is gonna make a difference.
Finally the argument is about a STADIUM, not the entire World Cup or the success thereof. The decision to build a new STADIUM never mind the location chosen was STUPID in the extreme. It all came down to politics.
My opinion on the world cup is well documented on my blog, it will be an African world cup, with African mishaps, corruption, problems etc. But it will be fantastic fun and there will be a lot more to talk about afterwards than there was after Germany!
Cape Town 2010
May 28th, 2007
First image of the 2010 World Cup Stadium in Cape Town.
Image excludes R120 million urban park, new tennis stadium, improved promenade area, granger bay boulevard, $1 billion waterfront upgrade, R14 billion CBD investment.
Not visible in image:
1. R7 billion transport improvement
2. New Phillipi stadium
3. R297 million upgrade to Athlone Stadium
4. Expansion of the CTICC
http://www.zoopy.com/photo_image/1179659084.jpg
Ideate - Small Business in South Africa » Should blogs have comments?
Oct 17th, 2007
[...] quality. One of the most interesting discussions we’ve hosted here on Ideate was about the new 2010 stadium in Cape Town, and near the end it had degenerated into personal attacks and mocking of grammar [...]
free image host
Oct 19th, 2007
Thanks a lot for this article
Jono
Aug 8th, 2009
I would be so embarassed to be you. Where is your commitment to South Africa? When the 2010 WC ends successfully, the nay sayers like yourself will have egg on your face. The only white elephant may be you?
Fred Roed
Aug 10th, 2009
Thanks for your comment Jono, and great to see your passion and commitment coming through. To respond to your question, I’m fairly confident my own commitment is without question. Please take a read through the other articles on this forum, and you’ll notice an unwavering patriotism for SA… with a side helping of satire (hence why we posted this article).
It’s good to see you fighting the good fight, but please Jono, for the sake of our foreign visitors next year, don’t forget your sense of humour!
2010 World Cup
Mar 13th, 2010
Great place that Cape Town with the Table Mountain, the blue ocean, the Green Point Stadium … wonderful views!