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Safa and Sandown high school management may sign Bafana deal this Friday

In the thick of things... Bafana Bafana star Steven Pienaar in action against Brazil during the Fifa Confederations Cup last year. Pienaar and his national teammates will train at Sandown high school if all goes according to plan.

Nie Cele

Much work lies ahead in order to turn the sports fields at Sandown high school into a top class training ground for Bafana Bafana during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in June.

Bafana will be staying at Grayston Southern Sun, and SA Football Association (Safa) spokesman Morio Sanyane told the Chronicle that despite initial hiccups, agreement had been reached with management of Sandown high school to use the grounds for training. A deal is expected to be signed this Friday. But on Monday, management of the school was still waiting for the contract, according to chairman of the governing body Oupa Keele.
Safa chief executive officer Leslie Sedibe said entrance for players would have to be fixed at the venue and seating area for at least 200 journalists created. There will also be a camera platform and nets behind the goal posts.
Sedibe explained Safa had an immediate challenge to find suitable grounds for Bafana after the Esselen Park School of Excellence in Kempton Park turned out to be not ready. “Sandown high school is perfect as it’s a stone’s throw from the Southern Sun,” he added.
Meanwhile, improvements will also be needed at training grounds such as Hyde Park high school to be used by Slovenians, who will be staying at the newly opened Hyde Park Southern Sun. Other World Cup teams based in the northern suburbs are Brazil, training at Randburg high school and staying at The Fairway, Honduras which is based at Indaba Hotel and will train at Randburg football club, and the Netherlands team which will train at Wits rugby stadium and use Hilton Hotel Sandton as base camp. Serbia will stay at the Sunnyside Park hotel and train at AW Muller Stadium at the University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park campus.
citybeat@caxton.co.za

Published on March 2, 2010 at 3:57 pm