'Fan Embassies' Offer Help and Guidance to England Fans

English fans following their team's run to the World Cup in South Africa will have some extra help navigating the country. "Fan embassies" will be set up in cities hosting England's matches and will assist the roughly 25,000 expected English fans as they explore South Africa.

Manned by 10 volunteers from the Football Supporters Federation (FSF), the fan embassies will be supported by a text message service giving up-to-date information from official supporters' group Englandfans, the Football Association and local organisers.

The embassies will operate in the cities where England are playing their group matches for a day either side of the games and in hubs such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, where fans may gather.

An FSF team will also produce a dedicated fanzine, Free Lions, for each England match, with logistical information and travel advice, alongside other football-related content. England's group matches will kick off on 12 June against the USA in Rustenburg, followed by Algeria in Cape Town and Slovenia in Port Elizabeth.

'Fan embassies' to help England supporters at World Cup
Guardian
May 3, 2010

Deputry president Says All Stadium Work Will Be Complete By First Match

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has pledged that there will be no unfinished stadia when the World Cup begins on June 11.

Four of the new six stadiums built for the event are fully complete. Work at Soccer City, the tournament's main venue, and Mbombela in Nelspruit continues and is expected to be wrapped up soon.

In Cape Town all eight World Cup soccer matches are sold out, the R4.5 billion stadium is complete and the city boasts the country's best World Cup soccer pitch.

No fans will sit on wet cement - Motlanthe
Independent Online
March 2, 2010

Host Cities to Host Fan Parks

Fan viewing parks will be set up in each of the nine host cities during the World Cup, according to the Local Organizing Committee.

Public viewing areas to broaden the reach of the 2010 Fifa World Cup are going to be set up in the nine host cities and access is "mahala", Local Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said on Monday.

'Mahala' fan parks for World Cup
Independent Online
November 23, 2009

England Fans to Flood South Africa, Despite Security Concerns

With a large amount of England supporters expected to descend upon South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, security concerns loom over travel plans. Some estimate 100,000 England fans will be visiting South Africa during the World Cup.

For their part, England fans will inevitably have concerns about security in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world. Police chiefs say that the huge blanket deployment of police and security officers (41,000 dedicated to policing the World Cup alone) will make the country far safer during the tournament than outside it and point out that visitors should be reassured that the vast majority of the worryingly high crime statistics are accounted for by cases where the victim knows the perpetrator.

South Africa prepares for England fans by addressing the fear factor
The Guardian
November 6, 2009

With Hotel Shortage, WC Organizers Plan Post-Match Fan Transport

World Cup organizers have announced plans to assist the mobilization of fans out of host cities after tournament matches due to projected shortfalls in accommodations.

Away from the main urban centres of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, fans could face a long night after evening games. As well as South Africa's main cities, organisers have signed deals to accommodate them in neighbouring countries such as Swaziland, Botswana and Mozambique. Some supporters will even stay on the holiday island of Mauritius.

The mass airlift will employ a shuttle system introduced on a smaller scale by Uefa to ferry Chelsea and Manchester United fans back from Moscow following the 2008 Champions League final.

World Cup organising committee chairman Danny Jordaan said that over 200 extra planes and more than 1,000 additional buses would be pressed into action. Supporters will funnel away from stadiums and be placed on the first available flight. Smaller hosts such as Polokwane and Nelspruit will be among the worst affected.

World Cup organisers plan mass evacuation of spectators after matches
The Guardian
November 6, 2009

Stadium Disaster Leaves 22 Dead in Ivory Coast; SA Officials Deflect Concerns

A crush of people inside an Ivory Coast stadium for a World Cup qualifying match caused a wall to collapse, injuring more than 130 attendees and leaving at least 22 dead.

At least 22 football supporters have died at a World Cup qualifying match in the Ivory Coast, according to state officials. Reports suggest that a wall collapsed as a number of fans, possibly without tickets, crushed into the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan shortly before Ivory Coast were due to play Malawi. Desire Tagro, Ivory Coast's minister of the interior, said that 22 people were killed and more than 130 were injured.

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Reports conflict over the number of fans in attendance, with estimates ranging from 36,000 to more than 60,000. Some news sources reported that the game was sold out and the stadium overcrowded after cut-price tickets were put on sale.

"Spectators who did not buy tickets were jostling before the match," the Ivory Coast's sports minister, Dagobert Banzio, told state television. "They smashed one of the main gates of the stadium. They were trampled." Banzio estimated the number of injured at 132.

South African World Cup organizer Danny Jordaan says stampedes like those seen during many African matches will not be a problem during the 2010 tournament, mainly due to the way tickets will be sold.

Jordaan says many African fans buy their tickets only when they reach the stadium, and often arrive late to do that, creating an impatient crowd outside that can spark an incident.

When the World Cup comes to South Africa in 2010, match tickets will have to be purchased well in advance. Jordaan says those without tickets will be "stopped kilometers away," and fans will be urged to arrive early.

Sources:
Supporters die at Ivory Coast World Cup qualifier after crush
The Guardian
March 30, 2009

World Cup organizer: Stampedes won't be an issue
Associated Press
March 30, 2009

Success on the Field, But African Demand for the Game Has Some Worried

As African nations enter the climactic stage of World Cup qualifying, the sport is experiencing an unprecedented success on the continent. African players are increasingly among the world's top players, earning some of the highest salaries. Investment in the African Champions League is also at an all-time high. But while the sport is benefiting, ticket sales for the upcoming Confederations Cup are disproportionate. Worries persist among many that the local audience for the Confederations Cup and the subsequent World Cup will be small.

Yet football's world governing body is concerned that when the best teams in the world arrive for next year's finals, there might be few locals to watch them. Although global ticket demand for the World Cup is high, the local pick-up has been slow and FIFA is unhappy with South Africa's marketing for its forthcoming tournaments. "There isn't a single promotion of the events, even when you arrive at the airport," secretary general Jerome Valcke lamented earlier this month.

This might partly explain the poor ticket sales ahead of June's Confederations Cup, the eight-team tournament featuring the various continental champions not to mention the last World Cup winners too: Italy being joined by Brazil, Spain, Iraq, New Zealand, America, Egypt and the hosts. Yet with just three months to go, little more than a quarter of the tickets have been snapped up.

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As the African Diaspora flourishes, the game is also advancing back home - at least monetarily. While the continent's domestic football will always be plagued by inadequate pitches, poor preparation, nutrition, salaries, administration and of course, corruption, sponsors are now pumping record amounts of money into the African Champions League.

Source:
African eyes all turn to World Cup
ESPN
March 26, 2009

Despite Troubled Past, Stadia Warm Up to Standing Areas

This piece from Pitch Invasion examines the history of standing areas in soccer stadia, especially in the UK, where they have been stigmatized by a crush of fans that resulted in 96 deaths in 1989. But as this piece counters, it wasn't the standing area that caused the problem, it was lax enforcement and monitoring of crowds.

Now some stadium planners are warming up to the idea of including standing areas, as many find these areas to be much more vibrant spaces -- and most people are standing at the games anyway.

With the twentieth anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster approaching, it would seem to be curious timing for a return to standing to be on the national agenda again.

But that’s exactly what is happening.

The movement towards reintroducing standing at the top levels of English football is gaining momentum. A little lower in the ladder, this month it was announced that League Two’s Morecambe are set to become the first English league club to incorporate safe standing areas into their new stadium.

Perhaps more significantly, especially given their proximity to Anfield, Everton’s chief executive Keith Wyness told a parliamentary seminar his club would consider including safe standing areas at their new ground.

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Meanwhile, the model of the Bundesliga — with their technologically impressive convertible standing/seating areas to meet UEFA mandates for European matches — has been much praised by advocates of standing. Schalke 04’s amazing Veltins-Arena can accommodate 61,524 spectators (standing and seated) for Bundesliga games, and 53,994 for European matches. Domestically, the North stand provides standing (capacity: 16,307) and is converted to seats for European competition (capacity: 8,600).

Source:
Safe Standing, Twenty Years On From Hillsborough
Pitch Invasion
March 22, 2009