Soccer
New Soccer City name opposed
2010-07-26 17:34
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Soccer City/National Stadium/FNB Stadium ??? (Gallo Images)
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Johannesburg - The High Court in Johannesburg will rule next month on whether the iconic World Cup final stadium, Soccer City, would be renamed the FNB Stadium or National Stadium.
FNB, who held the sponsoring rights before the FIFA World Cup, applied for a court interdict against the changing of the name to National Stadium.
This was after current management decided to officially rename the stadium to National Stadium at the Springbok rugby team's Tri Nations Test against the All Blacks there on August 21.
FNB spokeswoman Vicky Trehaeven said on Monday the bank launched the application earlier this month.
"We have a contract and they [Stadium Management South Africa] have a contract and the court has to decide which contract is valid."
The case was postponed last week, and a ruling was expected to be made on August 3.
City of Johannesburg spokesperson Gabu Tugwana said the stadium was renamed from FNB Stadium to Soccer City for the duration of the World Cup as FIFA did not deal with private enterprises. Stadiums were not allowed to have corporate brand names.
Stadium Management SA, the company who got the contract to manage the stadium, was not immediately available for comment.
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