SOUTH AFRICA: SOCCER - Free State stadium among soccer world cup's highest altitude arenas

Record ID: 452690

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: SOCCER - Free State stadium among soccer world cup's highest altitude arenas
  • Date: 1st December 2009
  • Summary: LOCAL MEN DANCING TO MUSIC IN SPRINGBOK PARK
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVABAW6CKQ83Y38Q2LODDV2A59E2
  • Story Text: The Free State Stadium is one of the smaller venues for the 2010 soccer world cup and also one of the highest, at an altitude of nearly 1,400 metres (4,300 feet).
    Until recently it was best known for the Cheetahs rugby team. Mangaung, the name for the municipality, means 'Place of the Cheetahs' in the Sesotho language.
    The stadium has been upgraded and expanded to welcome 45,000 spectators.
    Home to some of the country's most fanatical group of supporters, the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein is likely to be the centre of attention during the FIFA World Cup. The stadium was given a plush new look for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. It hosted the memorable semi-final match between Spain and USA where the latter secured one of the biggest surprises of the tournament by sending the European champions packing in front of a capacity crowd.
    The Free State Stadium was upgraded from a capacity of 38,000 to 45,000 during the refurbishments. The stadium has hosted numerous major football and rugby union matches, and Bloemfontein's natives are renowned for their passion for sport. While the former played second fiddle to the latter for decades, football's popularity explosion -- aided by the emergence of Bloemfontein Celtic -- is changing this.
    Bloemfontein is South Africa's judicial capital, seat of the country's highest court and capital of Free State -- a staunchly Afrikaans province. It has many stately old buildings and lies in the centre of South Africa.
    Given the altitude, it is likely to be cold next June, especially at night.
    The Free State Stadium will host six world cup matches: five in round one and one in the Round of 16.
    Although historically a predominantly Afrikaner settlement, Bloemfontein was officially founded in 1846 as a fort by British army Major Henry Douglas Warden as an outpost in the Transoranje region, at that stage occupied by various groups of peoples including Cape Colony Trek Boers, Griqua and Basotho.
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