Mbombela – The Mbombela local municipality in Mpumalanga is preparing for the off-season soccer spectacle between Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions, Orlando Pirates, and English Football Association (FA) champions, Tottenham Hotspur.
The two teams will battle it out during the Vodacom Challenge at the Mbombela stadium on Tuesday.
“The hosting of this match is a very exciting opportunity… As a municipality, we feel are on track to meet and exceed the expectations of the organisers and sports lovers alike,” said municipal spokesperson, Joseph Ngala.
Ngala said the municipality’s bid to host the match was also indicative of the municipality-s determination to make the stadium a world class facility.
He said it was imperative for the stadium to be financially viable and add value to the lives of sport fanatics in the province, adding that some of the strong points that ensured Mbombela was given the contract to host the July 19 match was the ability to pull capacity crowds each time an event has been staged.
“This is a great venue. It still boasts the status of being the only one to have a sold-out match, even mid-week. This feat was achieved when Bidvest Wits hosted Kaizer Chiefs earlier in the year,” he said.
Ngala said the stadium had successfully hosted the recent final of the Nedbank Challenge Cup, which involved the reigning treble champions, Orlando Pirates, against newly promoted PSL team, Black Leopards.
“The municipality, through this venue, has hosted a number of major events, both international and local, which included the first round matches of the FIFA World Cup, matches involving the national team, Bafana Bafana, rugby matches and the famous Metro Awards, to mention but a few,” Ngala said. – Eric Mashaba, BuaNews
