Reuters Soccer Blog

Soccer City a white elephant? 90,000 say otherwise

Since July’s World Cup final, which attracted an official attendance of 84 490, the crowds at Johannesburg’s Soccer City have been getting bigger and bigger.

On Saturday the attendance record was beaten again when South Africa hosted its League Cup final at the venue.

Conveniently the match was between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, the two best supported teams in the country whose intense rivalry has been enhanced by several additional, and unexpected, cup meetings in the recent months.

Over 90,000 braved traffic problems to turn up and see the Chiefs triumph 3-0, trumping the 88,791 that watched the August rugby test when New Zealand’s All Blacks beat the Springbok in a Tri-Nations match at the gigantic stadium.

The fact rugby previously held the attendance record at Soccer City has motivated football officials to try to ensure they reclaim it as their own given the venue was extensively renovated for the World Cup and is long acknowledged as the cathedral of football in the country.

Tickets on Saturday cost R60 and R40, a snip in comparison to what was paid for the same seats at the World Cup in mid-year. (R10 = approx 1 Euro)

But South African fans have been moaning since the World Cup when the domestic league hiked up admission prices 100 percent from R20 to R40 per Premier League match.

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World Cup 2010 podcast – day 1

Join us for our podcast on day one of the first African World Cup, as hosts South Africa prepare to test their growing confidence against unpredictable Mexico in front of 90,000 vuvuzela-blaring fans in Soccer City.

Click the audio box above to hear the thoughts of African football expert Mark Gleeson (@markgleesonfoot), sports editor Paul Radford, soccer editor Mike Collett (@mcfootball), the suave and sophisticated Helen Popper and Ossian Shine (@ossianshine) and your host, Kevin Fylan (@kevinfreuters).