Colin Bryden: Bacher dreams of World Cup final in Olympic Stadium (1 Aug 1997)

Bacher dreams of World Cup final in Olympic Stadium

By Colin Bryden - The Sunday Times 27/07/97

A World Cup final in watched by 73 000 fans in South Africa's own version of Eden Gardens is Ali Bacher's latest dream. If Cape Town wins it's bid for the 2004 Olympic games then it is likely to become a reality.

South Africa has already been awarded the 2003 cricket World Cup, which will be held in February and March 2003. The Olympics will be in September 2004 if Cape Town wins.

Cape Town's 80 000-seater Olympic Stadium would be completed in 2002. What better way to launch the stadium, thought Bacher, than to stage a World Cup final watched by millions of TV viewers around the world?

The United Cricket Board managing director immediately discussed his ideas with SA Olympic chief Sam Ramsamy and got a positive response. Even more positive though was the reaction of 2 of the men primarily responsible for planning Cape Town's Olympic venues.

Robbie Stewart, director of sport of the bid company, said it was "a great idea - just the sort of thing which makes building a big stadium a viable project".

Ruben Reddy, director of special projects, said: "The way the stadium has been designed it will be ideal for cricket. It's an oval shape and if we delay putting in the athletics track and the lower tier of seats it will be ideal for cricket."

This would reduce the capacity of the ground by about 7 000 but a 73 000-seater would still be more than twice as big as the Wanderers, South Africa's biggest cricket ground, which holds 30 000.

Reddy said that there would then be plenty of time to lay an athletics track and install the extra seats before the Olympics. He said, though, that it was unlikely that the stadium would remain an athletics stadium after the Games. If there was an agreement for cricket to use it on a long term basis it would make sense to take out the track and use the stadium for soccer and cricket.

Stewart said: "The intention all along was that the stadium would become a soccer venue after the Olympics. If it is used for cricket as well then it will be an even more valuable asset."

Bacher said that his latest brain-wave had not been discussed at an official level. "But it would merit serious consideration by the UCB and the Western Province Cricket Association."

In the meantime, he said, the UCB was "400 percent" behind the Cape Town bid.

Bacher said earlier in the year that South Africa's cricket grounds were not big enough to cope with the growth in spectator interest, particularly for one-day internationals.

"Cape Town has some of the most enthusiastic cricket supporters in the country," he said. "Newlands is a wonderful ground, but it is not big enough for the more glamorous one day games. If we could keep a Newlands for tests and play one day games at a bigger stadium it would make a lot of sense."

The idea has benefits both for cricket and the Olympic organisers. Under a new agreement reached for the staging of World Cup tournaments, television and sponsorship money is shared by the participating countries but the hosts keep all the gate money.

"Assuming a ticket price of R300 (US$64) for a World Cup final, and extra 40 000 spectators would bring in an additional R12 million (US$ 2.56 million) in revenue for the UCB," said Bacher.

The ground would probably be used for 1 or 2 other World Cup matches as well as for a one-day international between South Africa and the West Indies, whose first full tour of the country will precede the World Cup.

"On a longer term basis, I'm sure a stadium of that nature would attract crowds of 50-60 0000 for normal one-day internationals," said Bacher, who said South Africa needed a venue comparable with Calcutta's Eden Gardens and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Stewart said a major cricket match would provide an ideal "test event: for the Olympic organisers. Improved road and rail systems are likely to be in place by 2003 and an event such as the World Cup would also test Cape Town's ability to deal with a large influx of sports followers.