The completed Soccer City stadium, which would be used for the opening and closing matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, was on Wednesday officially handed over to the City of Johannesburg.

JSE-listed construction group Aveng, its subsidiary Grinaker-LTA and international joint-venture partner Interbeton, handed over the R3,2-billion stadium to Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo.

“This is an incredibly exciting moment for the Aveng group, as we present a piece of African pride to the Mayor of Johannesburg. We are ready for the World Cup and cannot wait for the games to begin so that we can showcase African ingenuity in design and our expertise in construction and engineering to the rest of the world. I have no doubt that we will host a world class event,” Aveng CEO Roger Jardine commented.

The stadium, which took about 33 months to complete, would host the opening match of the soccer tournament between South Africa and Mexcio on June 11.

With 87 000 seats, the stadium is the largest in Africa, but also one of the biggest all seated stadiums ever built for any football World Cup event, noted the construction group.

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