"I really think that we're going into Green Point because Sepp Blatter says: 'I like Green Point', not because it is the best thing for South Africans," Cape Town's then-mayor Helen Zille said in 2006.
"FIFA strong-armed Cape Town and central government to construct a stadium for which there is no demonstrable need other than that its location shows the city to its best advantage," it said.
Green Point was announced despite a 2006 study commissioned by the city, which found it offered the fewest social and economic gains, according to a Institute of Security Studies (ISS) publication.
SHOOT: When I hear people blowing a Vuvuzela and describing this racket as why they are proudly South African I cringe. I cringe because I realise they don't know how easily manipulated and stupid they've been. All it takes is blowing on a plastic foghorn to give them a sense of national pride. Those are infernally low standards.
South Africa's priciest World Cup stadium is the flattering image that Africa's richest democracy hopes to offer the world from Friday: a striking sports ground with spectacular mountain and sea views.
The renovated 50-metre (164-foot) high, 68,000-seat Green Point stadium bursts out of Cape Town's densely populated Atlantic seaboard where it is ringed by tourist attractions, trendy restaurants, apartments and shops.
But the controversial 4.5-billion-rand stadium (577 million dollars, 483 million euros) -- described by FIFA as 2010's best pitch -- has sparked criticism as a showpiece choice over cheaper but less glamorous contenders.
Tossed aside were proposals to upgrade a premier league football pitch or a successful Super 14 rugby team homeground in Newlands, which hosts a France-South Africa international the day after kick-off.
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clipped from www.property24.com
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