Bafana vs Egypt AFC qualifier hosted in Ellis Park

SOCCER City yesterday lost out on hosting this month’s 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier between Bafana Bafana and continental powerhouses Egypt after the South African Football Association (Safa) decided that the World Cup stadium’s pitch was of a poor standard.

Ellis Park will now host this plum match, at 8.05pm on March 26.

Safa communications director Morio Sanyane said yesterday that Soccer City was originally the preferred venue for the crunch encounter as they wanted the game to be played at a stadium that would intimidate the pedigreed Pharaohs.

But after a pitch expert — who was also used by the local organising committee during the World Cup last year — got a glimpse of the grass at Soccer City, he recommended that an international fixture of this magnitude could not be played on the substandard surface.

"We would have preferred to play the game at Soccer City, but the pitch was a huge concern," Sanyane said.

"We need the pitch to be playable for a match of this magnitude and it was felt that Ellis Park would be more suitable.

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"We sent a pitch expert to Soccer City last week and the report he gave us was unfavourable. So we did not want to take any chances and settled on Ellis Park."

Stadium Management SA CE Jacques Grobbelaar was not available for comment and he was said to be on leave.

The condition of the pitch at Soccer City has come under heavy criticism after the venue hosted Southern Africa’s biggest match — the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates — on a disastrous surface last week.

The game was played at the venue just days after the pitch was removed to accommodate a contraption known as "the four-legged claw" which covered almost half the surface during rock band U2’s concert there last month.

The surface was in such an appalling condition that play came to a standstill in the derby so groundsmen could repair the pitch.

Combustible Pirates coach Rudi Krol did not hold back and said the pitch was a total disservice to South African football.

Sanyane said Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane was not too concerned by the change of venue as the only condition he set was that the match had to be played in Johannesburg.

"The coach himself said he preferred the match to be played in Johannesburg and he was not too bothered by where it was going to take place.

"He wanted to take full advantage of playing at altitude and that is why we decided against playing anywhere else for this one."

Safa acting CEO Pinky Lehoko said the association was expecting a capacity crowd at Ellis Park as the game had generated a great deal of interest locally and internationally.

"We are inundated with inquiries about our match against Egypt and, judging by the high level of interest, we are doing everything possible to ensure that come match day, we will give the spectators a wonderful football experience," she said.

"We have involved a number of stakeholders in our quest to deliver a great event at Ellis Park and we will unveil a comprehensive plan around the match."

Bafana are top of Group G while the Egyptians are surprisingly rooted to the bottom of the standings.

A defeat for Egypt in SA could all but end their chances of qualifying for the 2012 tournament that will be jointly hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

The Egyptians have been the dominant force on the continent over the past few years but may not be around to defend the continental title that they have won for the past three years in a row.

With just one team set to qualify from the group, the SA-Egypt fixture will make this encounter a must-win for both teams.