South Africa: Cape Town Stadium roof leaking, but this isn’t its only problem

source: Sport.co.za; author: michał

South Africa: Cape Town Stadium roof leaking, but this isn’t its only problem One place a roof shouldn’t leak is the press section. Because there’s nothing as bad as journalists furious about their matchday experience sharing it with the rest of the world. Cape Town is only now learning this…

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Not being so new anymore, the roof of the stadium now leaks, and it being a strange summer’s day in Cape Town, the rain was bucketing down. This combination meant that the entire press seating area, which is out in the open in the main stand, was under water.

Now I know most of you think that all us media types do is complain while being paid to watch rugby for free in the best seats while sipping on a cold one and eating biltong … But we do actually do a little work, and that involves a computer plugged into a power socket - two things that do not go particularly well with water, writes Tank Lanning, Sport24.co.za columnist.

Lanning took a pre-season visit to the Cape Town Stadium for rugby and returned utterly disappointed. The leaking roof wasn’t his only problem, apparently. He also claims traffic before the game was a problem despite the stadium being a long way from full.

Also, unless you know the area particularly well, and are prepared to circumvent the city, there is only one road into the stadium - a road that also happens to be the only road into the city’s biggest shopping centre and tourist attraction. Even with only a few thousand of us going to the game, that road took proper strain, meaning plenty time sitting in traffic, Lanning writes.

That together with insufficient corporate facilities (compared to Newlands Stadium), convinced Lanning that relocating local rugby side Western Province RU might not be viable for the union, currently still not bending to the political pressure of giving Cape Town Stadium a solid tenant. Higher maintenance costs and less money from skyboxes? That sounds like no deal, indeed.

Similar situation with pressure to push rugby into 2010 World Cup stadiums exists in Durban. Lanning ends with a very harsh statement about the stadiums’ sustainability. I am afraid both Durban and Cape Town were royally screwed when bending over so quickly for Mr Blatter and his FIFA henchman and are now paying the price.

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