Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The city of Cape Town can rest easy in the knowledge that Kaizer Chiefs will draw large crowds to the Cape Town Stadium this season.
A deal was announced between the city and the PSL champions on Thursday with the news that Chiefs will play three of their home matches at the 2010 World Cup venue this season between December 2015 and February 2016.
“The mayor can be comfortable. If you look at the attendances that Kaizer Chiefs has drawn over the years ... I mean our last game against Ajax was sold out,” Chiefs marketing manager Jessica Motaung said.
Concerns over the failure of the Cape Town Cup – a two-day event in July involving English Premier League club Crystal Palace and Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon – were also raised at Thursday’s briefing.
But Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille quickly moved to quell such worries.
“There is a major difference because the two issues are not the same. The Cape Town Cup was a kind of event where we attempted as the city of Cape Town to have events during the months of winter when of course there was low season,” she said.
“Very few people travel at that time and it was based on a concept where the city actually invited Manchester (United) in the past and it was a huge success during winter.
“That has got nothing to do with this event application for Kaizer Chiefs. We get a number of applications for various types of events and Kaizer Chiefs is no different.”
De Lille added that more would be known on the financial consequences of the Cape Town Cup in the coming weeks.
“We are waiting for the audited final report that will be coming out before the end of this month and then once we’ve received all the audited closing figures of the Cape Town Cup we will then make an announcement.”
