A new sports facility in Gansbaai has been identified as a fan park for the 2010 World Cup. Western Cape sports and culture MEC Whitey Jacobs announced this decision at a sod-turning ceremony held in Gansbaai on Saturday.

Construction of the sports facility, funded under Absa-Barclays Bank Spaces for Sports programme, is expected to start soon. The facility is tied to environmental and tourism projects.

Fan parks in the last two World Cups proved to be popular features, especially in Germany, where millions of fans without tickets flocked to the venues to watch the games on big screens in a carnival atmosphere.

The Gansbaai sports facility, to be built on 17 hectares donated by the local municipality, will have soccer and five-a-side grounds and is expected to be completed within a year. The Western Cape government is also planning to nominate the venue as one of the grounds that will be used as base camps for teams taking part in the 2010 extravaganza.

"We will support it to be used as a base camp," said Jacobs, to the delight of the crowd attending the ceremony.

Teams decide on a base camp to train at before the tournament. Jacobs warned that if the ground was to get the nod, local businessmen would have to ensure that there was enough accommodation.

The seaside village of Gansbaai attracts a significant number of tourists who come to the Cape for its eco-tourism and marine attractions. The Great White Shark Project operates in Klein Bay, just outside Gansbaai . Many soccer fans were expected to see as much as they could of the area when they were not watching soccer.

The project was being supported under the Barclays Spaces for Sports. The financial institution has invested 30-million over three years into regenerating spaces for sports in Britain.

Gansbaai was part of 170 community sports sites that Barclays had established across the United Kingdom. The Overberg town is the programme's first flagship outside the UK.

Michael Lutzeyer, of the Grootbos Foundation, said the sports facility would also be part of a recycling and environmental project.

"The World Cup will take place within the richest botanical garden in the world, a floral kingdom," said Lutzeyer. Young players using the soccer fields would be taught about nature conservation.

Source: OverbergInfo.com

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IMPORTANT WORLD CUP 2010 DATES:
FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009
Final Draw 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup South Africa