Africa Cup 2013 of Nations cities once again start after delay

South Africa has named Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Johannesburg to be the hosting cities for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

This decision is final as the Cape Town Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup, will not be used for the tournament.

Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium, formerly known as Soccer City, will host only the opening and the final match.

The host cities were to be announced at the beginning of April, but the news was delayed because of the negotiations going over financial issues.

A news conference was going to take place on Thursday, but was postponed and after that the decision was made on Friday by the South African minister of sport and recreation, Fikile Mbalula.

He said:

“Rather than using the whole of the republic we have reduced to a total number of about four, five stadiums so that they are close to each other,”

The South African government has agreed in helping with the costs of the host cities.

The minister said:

“On relieving the financial burden for host cities, there’s a joint task team… which will meet with the host cities individually to allay fears,”

“I don’t want to speculate on what the budget would be, but I can guarantee that the government and other private sections will come to the party and we will pursue negotiations with CAF [the Confederation of African Football] to make sure local private sector come on board as sponsors.”