By David Gold
May 18 – Mvuzo Mbebe, the head of the Organising Committee of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations being held in South Africa, has said the tournament will cost a total of R400 million (£30 million/$48 million/€38 million).
On behalf of the Organising Committee, Mbebe presented an outline of the tournament’s organisational structure, objectives and costs to South African Parliament.
Mbebe confirmed that the South African Football Association (SAFA) would incur costs in the region of R300 million (£23 million/$36 million/€28 million) with a further R90 million (£7 million/$11 million/€9 million) to come from the host cities.
“We expect that this is going to cost R300 million (£23 million/$36 million/€28 million) and it will cost the host cities another R90 million (£6 million/$10 million/€8 million),” Mbebe said.
“So we are talking of a budget of close to R400 million (£30 million/$48 million/€38 million) to really run this.
“We recognise that time and resources are limited and obviously we are going to be begging and knocking on all doors to ask for support.”
The Organising Committee is asking for R52 million (£4 million/$6 million/€5 million) from the Government to help fund the cost of the competition.
Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, Durban and Nelspruit are hosting games during the competition, as well as Johannesburg in its Soccer City stadium, which will stage the Opening Ceremony and final.
Mbebe also stressed that they were determined to deliver a net profit for SAFA and underlined the importance of filling the stadiums during the tournament.
Organisers of this year’s competition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, were forced to hand out free tickets in an attempt to fill their venues.
The African Nations Cup runs from January 19 to February 10 next year, while the draw for the tournament is set for October.
A trophy tour – running from Zambia, who won this year’s African Nations Cup (pictured above), to South Africa – will take place to help generate interest in the competition.
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