Port Elizabeth Venue for Soccer's 2010 World Cup
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Complete, PLZ Airport Goes International
May 29, 2009
There was dancing in the streets when Port Elizabeth was chosen as one of South Africa’s nine venues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This historic port on beautiful Algoa Bay had seen nothing like it since the 1990 release from jail of its most famous son, Nelson Mandela. Since then the city has been in a ferment of preparation, desperate to prove that its showcase new stadium could be ready on time.
So it was with great pride and some relief that the stunning new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was completed slightly ahead of schedule at the end of May 2009, ahead of other South African FIFA venues such as Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), based in Zurich, and soccer fans everywhere will surely be delighted with the result.
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
- Beautifully situated beside attractive North Bay Lake.
- Within 15 minutes of Port Elizabeth’s cultural centre, hotels and famous white sand beaches.
- Seats 44,000, with 4,000 extra seats for the World Cup.
- 40 metres high, on 6 levels, with 2 huge viewing screens
- Multi-purpose for post-Cup events; the natural grass pitch is surrounded by an athletics track.
- Will host 8 World Cup games, including, third and fourth place play-offs and a quarterfinal.
Ironically, it was the notorious Group Areas Act under Apartheid that left Port Elizabeth with huge ‘no-man’s lands’ as buffer zones between its racially segregated communities. It’s mainly this land that is being utilised for NMB Stadium and other innovative World-Cup-related developments, with the aim of bringing the communities together. The young in particular should benefit, in a country united in its devotion to all kinds of sport.
The NMB Stadium is Port Elizabeth’s biggest construction project for the 2010 World Cup. Now that the main work is complete, this football-mad city, which even doesn’t have a team of its own in the Premier League, can concentrate on other projects that will need to be in place before the 2010 kick-off.
Capitalising on 2010 to Boost Port Elizabeth Tourism
- Extension of the airport (PLZ) to take international flights.
- New hotels for the influx of soccer fans, which will encourage more stop-over tourism after the World Cup.
- Street beautification schemes for main thoroughfares and shopping areas.
- Township clean-ups, with job creation for residents to ‘pick Port Elizabeth daisies’ (the local name for poly bag litter) for recycling, and other health and education initiatives.
Highlights of Port Elizabeth - for After the Game
The NMB Stadium is within 30 minutes’ drive of:
- Luxury 5-star game lodges and Settlers Park Nature Reserve.
- Surfing on Pollock Beach, known locally as The Pipe.
- Golf on some of the world’s most scenic courses including Humewood, on Marine Drive.
- 25 miles of clean, white-sand beaches with all kinds of water sports.
- Bayworld Oceanarium and Museum Complex on Beach Road.
- Addo Elephant Park – one of highest ‘elly’ population densities in Africa only an hour from the heart of Port Elizabeth.
Further bonuses for football fans are that Port Elizabeth’s weather will be its considerable best in May when the World Cup will be playing, and the Eastern Cape Coast is malaria-free.
More on Port Elizabeth Cultural and Port Elizabeth Wildlife
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