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Ajax suffer CT Stadium loss

Johannesburg - Ajax CEO George Comitis has revealed his side are unlikely to host matches at the Cape Town Stadium in future.

The Parow-based outfit suffered a loss in revenue of around R300 000 after their 2-1 win over Platinum Stars at the World Cup stadium on Saturday.

The Urban Warriors were aiming for a crowd of around 14 000 in order to make a profit from the tie, however they only managed half of that.

"Unfortunately we can't sustain it at 7000 people," Comitis told the Cape Times.

"It's a pity because it is much more than what we have had before and we want to build from that.

"If you look at the previous season, we had about 1200 people for the same fixture.

"Obviously they (Stars) don't bring a lot of supporters to the table. So from 1200 to 7000 is virtually five times as many people.

"But with the type of costs we are talking about, it's just not sustainable. We have got to get to the 14 000, 15 000 mark to try and be able to play there.

"We can't afford to have losses like that. We would rather spend the money on players and improving our youth development."

Comitis admits he was disappointed it is not viable for Ajax to use the stadium on a regular basis, although he did say he hopes the Cape Town derby would go ahead there as planned.

"It is difficult and to take our matches away from the stadium would be a pity for everybody in Cape Town," he added.

"The derby is still earmarked for the Cape Town Stadium. Obvioulsy we are expecting a big crowd. But we will have to sit down with Santos and obviously the stadium operators to work out the way forward," he said.
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