By Nangamso Mabindla
27 February 2007

TEAM privacy at a hotel and a 25 000 seater-stadium with good training facilities and a good pitch are just two of the things a city needs to get some of the 2010 action.

A city would need such facilities to be considered as a base camp during the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup, according to marketing expert Paul Hoffman.

Hoffman was speaking at a forum attended by Buffalo City officials and business people in East London recently. "I want to encourage East London to work towards being a base camp for at least one team. Even though teams only decide where they will be based once they know they have qualified, there are steps the city can take towards being chosen."

A marketing lecturer at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University's George Campus, Hoffman spent six weeks in Germany during the soccer 2006 world cup, held in that country.

Since his return, Hoffman has shared his research so that South African cities, including those that will not be hosting game, will be able to benefit from soccer's biggest showpiece.

"The favoured teams to host at a base camp are England and Holland because they have a large contingent of fans who follow them. Just a team and entourage total over a 100 people."

Turning his attention to other opportunities, Hoffman said that the city could create open air viewing facilities with huge screens. "For people who are unable to attend matches, these are the next best things. In Germany there were a number of these in the city streets."

With only a third of the 2010 tickets available for sale in South Africa, and their price likely to be at a premium, Hoffman encouraged Buffalo City to explore buying a giant screen.

"They are expensive - about R20-million," he admitted, but added, "Buy one as soon as you can. They are likely to become scarce the closer we get to 2010, and more expensive."

Also present at the forum were representatives from the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa). Hoffman was pleased, saying that if fans were guaranteed they could get from their hotel to a stadium within four hours, they would be willing to stay in a non-hosting city.

Last year Acsa announced a R60-million investment in the expansion of the East London airport, the county's fastest growing airport. This expansion would play a big role during the soccer world cup.

Hoffman also congratulated the city for inviting Swedish Premier League side Gefle IF, which played against South African Premier League high flyers Bloemfontein Celtics earlier this month.

Border Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook said the city's climate was one of its best attributes and positioned it beautifully for the world cup.

"With our beautiful climate in June, our stadiums, good hotels and a strong level of co-operation between stakeholders, we believe there is every indication we could be a base camp for one, if not two teams and we [the chamber] commit ourselves to working with the City towards turning Buffalo City into a soccer city in 2010," Holbrook said.

Buffalo City's 2010 project manager, Vuyo Zambodla, said the City had established a framework of engagement with Fifa and the Local Organising Committee so that 2010 opportunities were maximised.

"Sharing of information and forging partnerships between stakeholders is going to be a key determining factor in the success or failure of Buffalo City, and the Eastern Cape as a whole, in our attempts to make the most of the 2010 FIFA World Cup opportunity."

He said the City was continuing with its preparations to be part of the 2010 soccer spectacular.