Public viewing areas to broaden the reach of the 2010 Fifa World Cup are going to be set up in the nine host cities and access is ”mahala”, Local Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said on Monday.
”This is where we want to carve the real event experience outside these stadiums,” he told journalists at the media launch of the Fifa fan fest.
Speaking in Sandton, Jordaan said more than 18-million fans watched the soccer spectacular at fan parks during the World Cup in Germany in 2006.
The fan parks would be based in each host city and would broaden access to the soccer event.
It would enable those who could not afford tickets to watch the matches in a ”festive” atmosphere.
There would also be fan parks in international cities including Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Sydney, Rome, Berlin, London and Mexico City. The public viewing areas would provide a secure environment for fans.
The fan fests would be organised by the host cities.
”This will ensure that the World Cup experience is exported outside the match venues,” Jordaan said.
Fifa was in talks with other cities outside South Africa’s borders and there could be fan parks in other African cities. — Sapa