The end of next month has been pencilled in as the date to start work on rebuilding the venue to be ready for the World Cup in 2010.

"The project manager has asked that Soccer City be closed for the duration of the construction," stadium manager Dennis Mumble says.

The completion of the second phase of Soccer City, the home of glamour club Kaizer Chiefs, will force the club to seek an alternative ground for its home games.

Closing down the venue could inconvenience Amakhosi fans who will have to follow their team to its alternative venue, the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg.

Mumble is not convinced that the stadium should be closed.

"Initially the plan was to close the stadium in the second year," he says. "But things changed when the design was changed.

"The project manger has put in a request to have the stadium closed for demolishing. Until they persuade me otherwise, the total closure will not happen."

Mumble is keen to keep Amakhosi at Soccer City for as long as it is possible.

"Nothing official has been sent to us," says Chiefs communications manager Thebe Mohatle. "But we've seen in the media that the stadium is likely to be closed this year.

"We' ll wait until we get official confirmation. But that does not mean we will not start looking for an alternative venue."

Sunday World
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge