White Elephant Stadia Plague South Africa

Just months after the completion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, expensive stadia built for the event sit empty and unused.

1 minute read

November 15, 2010, 7:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


Many are warning against these sorts of costly legacies of the World Cup. Hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be announced next month.

"Positive South Africans point to the upsurge in tourism, national pride, the lack of predicted bloodbaths and a brief downturn in crime.

But most, in the post-World Cup depression, accept their country may have been fooled into thinking a month under the global spotlight would right the nation's many ills. It hasn't.

Those 10 sparkling stadiums lie largely unused. They're using Cape Town's Green Point for next week's Mandela Challenge which sees South Africa take on the USA. Both SAFA (R5m) and the local municipality (R2m) are forking out millions to allow the game to go ahead."

Friday, November 12, 2010 in Bleacher Report

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