Fifa's 2010 HQ launched
22 November 2005
President Thabo Mbeki and Fifa president Sepp Blatter attended the launch of contruction on Safa House in Soweto on Monday.
The building, with its distinctive football-shaped dome, will be the headquarters of Fifa and the local organising committee during the 2010 World Cup.
Joburg landmark
The Safa House complex will house the headquarters of both the SA Football Association (Safa) and the Premier Soccer League. It will also host the Safa Academy, a training facility for elite level coaches and players.
The complex will consist of at least 100 offices for Fifa with all the modern conveniences that a world-class organisation requires. It is to be a technologically "smart" development, built on environmentally sound principles.
The building will be dominated by the football-shaped dome on the roof. The dome will be well-lit at night and visible from the air and the ground as a defining landmark
for the city of Johannesburg.
The complex was designed by South African firms Boogertman and Partners and Urban Edge Architects.
Soccer City
The duplex will be constructed on the eastern side of the FNB stadium. Safa president Molefi Oliphant said the building would be ready for occupation within a year.
"Effectively, the 2010 Fifa World Cup will be run from Soccer City," Oliphant said. "This is highly symbolic since it will also be the first time that a Fifa World Cup will be played in a stadium owned by a football association."
"We look forward to working in the environment that will be provided by the new complex", said Danny Jordaan, CEO of the local organising committee. "We thank the South African government for its continued unflinching commitment to the cause of this Fifa World Cup".
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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