The FNB Stadium has been named one of the world’s most beautiful sporting venues; the City of Joburg is very proud of this accolade as the venue finally gets busy again after the pandemic.
Johannesburg, South Africa (02 February 2023) – The FNB Stadium in Johannesburg has been named one of the most beautiful sports stadiums in the world. The accolade has been bestowed on 41 venues across the globe, with the proudly South African stadium earning the 13th spot.
British-based Online Betting Guide hosted the listing by asking fans and analysing hashtags on social media platforms like Instagram.
The city of Johannesburg shared the exciting news along with the history of the stadium. They shared that it was riginally known as Soccer City, before being changed to FNB Stadium. The sporting venue was built between 1986 and 1989.
In the leadup to the 2010 Soccer World Cup which was hosted in South Africa, the stadium underwent a colourful makeover. It played host to the opening and final matches of the Soccer World Cup.
“It is used as a multipurpose venue and hosts everything from sporting events, conferences, church events and mega international artist concerts. The stadium also boasts a seating capacity of 94 000,” says Siyanda Mnukwa, the Director of Sport in City of Johannesburg.
The management team are so thankful for the accolade after the two very hard years of lockdown. The pandemic had meant no events and the stadium remained quiet until last year. Now they can bring in more events and bring communities together again.
The venue has played host to Metallica, U2, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers to name a few.
“The hardships experienced makes everything so worthwhile especially after being named the 13th most beautiful stadium in the world. It inspires us to continuously raise the bar of our own expectations.
We also share this recognition with the City of Johannesburg and specifically the Department Community Development,” – Bertie Grobbelaar, the Chief Executive Officer of Stadium Management SA
The award-winning stadium plans to host a number of events coming in 2023. The line-up includes the Imagine Dragons concert in February, the Soweto Derby, Monster Jam, a host of PSL Premiership matches, the Soweto Marathon, the Ride Joburg Cycle Challenge and some further international concerts to be announced soon.
“As the Stadium Management collective we will continue to treat and care about the venues we manage as we do with our personal homes. The small detail matters and therefore we will also carry on doing regular inspections and maintenance to avoid any deterioration outside of the normal wear and tear that occurs as a stadium gets older.
“I must also comment on the input of community cleaners assisting us with the pre-event and post-event cleaning as part of the community cleaning project managed in conjunction with the City of Johannesburg as a CSI project.”
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