European 2004 soccer champions Porto meet & greet South Africa

Portugal's 2004 European Champions League winners Porto will play games against Jomo Cosmos and Bloemfontein Celtic in May 2006.

Portugal's 2004 European Champions League winners Porto will play games against Jomo Cosmos and Bloemfontein Celtic, two South African Premier League clubs, in May. This was announced by Cosmos owner Jomo Sono, who negotiated a deal in which the top Portuguese club will also play a Maputo All Stars XI in Mozambique.

Sono said the game against Cosmos would take place at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on May 25, with a sizeable contingent of local Porto supporters expected to swell the crowd to reasonable proportions, the SAPA news agency reported.

Off-setting this, however, is the fact that the club who include the South African national team's Benni McCarthy in their ranks will be in South Africa without what is expected to be a substantial contingent of players in Portugal's German-bound World Cup squad.

Porto's games against the Maputo All Stars and Celtic are due to be played on May 21 and May 28 in Maputo, Mozambique, and Bloemfontein respectively.

British Premier League club Manchester United announced last week that a 22-man team will visit South Africa in July as part of their preparations for next season.

Source: Xinhua / April 4 2006

The German state of Bavaria is encouraging South African companies to attend a real estate trade fair in October 2006, saying it will attract investors in the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Hans Spitzner, Bavaria's deputy minister for economic affairs said that SA could benefit from experience Germany was gaining in staging the 2006 Football World Cup.

Specific areas of opportunity that could be triggered by the event included the development of shopping malls, entertainment venues and residential developments, he said. The 2010 Football World Cup is expected to generate billions of rands.

Australia is keen as well to share the experience gained in hosting the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

(source: Business Day / Chris Van Gass / 17 February 2005)

The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup should boost tourism in Southern Africa, which is currently handicapped by its image as a war zone and the difficulties of travel within the region.

Shepherd Nyaruwata, the executive director of the Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa, said: "There is a need to spruce up the image of the region."

Nyaruwata expected tourist numbers to peak from 14 million last year to 20 million during 2010, with some World Cup soccer fans going on from the soccer tournament in South Africa to visit neighbouring states such as Mozambique and Namibia.

(source: Business Report / Alfonce Mbizwo / 17 March 2005)