At the end of May 2009, the 10-match Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series kicks off at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phoekeng, just outside Rustenburg, which is again used for the first match of the FIFA Confederations cup on 14 June.
There are some serious logistical arrangements resulting from the close turnaround of the Lions tour with the Confederations Cup. Hosting both events poses massive timeframe challenges with stadium use, field markings, ticketing, volunteers, signage, hospitality, branding, concessions (refreshment areas) and media.
The success of this British & Irish Lions Tour, which is to sustain at least 3000 jobs for a full year, will also give impetus to SA's bid to host both the 2015/19 Rugby World Cup tournaments.
The mammoth task ahead for the organisers includes handling the logistical pressures that come with transforming some of the stadiums used for a Confederations Cup game into those for a Lions Tour match in a turnaround time of six days. This timeframe is less than FIFA's 15-day rule of exclusive use of stadiums before each game.
In preparation, a number of the stadiums have been transformed, upgraded or even built from scratch. At all existing venues, there have been new pitches and upgrades to hospitality and stadium concession areas, VIP sections, changing rooms, media facilities, as well as lighting and sound.
The expenditure for the refurbishments has come from different levels of national, provincial and local governments. Coca-Cola Park (formerly Ellis Park), now seating 64 000, has a new North Stand with 4000 seats and parking garage with 1200 extra bays, and upgraded disabled facilities and concession areas, as well as access routes around the stadium.
Pretoria's Loftus Versveld, with a capacity of 51 000, has a new roof over the East Stand and Bloemfontein's Vodacom Park, which can now hold 48 000, has a extensively upgraded West Stand and access areas. Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, which was refurbished for the Confederations Cup, now seats 44 000 with a roof on the West Stand. Port Elizabeth's new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium can seat 44 000.
The project team leaders have tried to find a compromise in every space, an attitude that extends to the unlikeliest of realms.
“Just co-ordinating over 2000 buses during the tour in and out of the stadia is a complex task,” says Andre Homan, SA Rugby's project manager for the Lions Tour who has been involved with the Golden Lions Rugby Union for several years.
“Over the past year, we've worked through the 29-page planning document, along with endless discussions with hundreds of people, from groundsmen to paint technicians, soccer bosses to hot-dog sellers.
“With a few of the stadium handovers taking place after a game at midnight, this overtime required for a general clean up of stadiums, VIP, media and concession (refreshment) areas has created a need for an additional 300 part-time labourers per stadium. Extra jobs are being created to service the 11 000 guests at specially created exterior hospitality villages and 12 000 in-stadium suites during the tour,” Homan says.
Comments Brendan Cameron, executive director of Circa Hospitality which has been involved in the hospitality contingent for every Tri Nations World Cup in the country, as well as the Earth Summit, “The impact on a hospitality note, in the case of Loftus Versveld stadium, which hosts the Confederations Cup match between Brazil and Italy on 21 June and the second test of the Lions Tour on 27 June, means that FIFA has a mere two days to restore the stadium back before the Lions match, as opposed to the two weeks they had to set it up.
“This massive labour and time-consuming undertaking leaves our staff only six days to build the infrastructure to host 5000 VIP hospitality guests, change overlays and sponsors signage.”
“Just under 1000 volunteers will be recruited for the tour, most of whom will be deployed for a four-hour session playing the crucial role of providing directions and streamlining the queues outside the stadium in parking and public transport areas,” explains Allen Kruger, SA Rugby's marketing director. “There will be ushers to direct and guide spectators to their seats, a kiosk information team and a small team on stand-by to distribute match programmes, water, etc.”
On-field branding and line markings are typically mowed down after matches, but because the two sports require grass of different lengths, SA Rugby has imported paint technology from Australia specifically to wash off directly after the match, having recently tested it at Coca-Cola Park, Vodacom Park and Loftus Versveld. No chances have been taken - contingency pitches have been grown near the stadiums, making it possible to replace an entire pitch within 48 hours.
