Leslie Sedibe © Gallo Images

SA'S WORLD CUP LEGACY: HIGHER TICKET PRICES

South Africa is facing rising ticket prices and an uncertain future for its state of the art stadiums as the initial legacy of staging the first World Cup in Africa.

Just 10 days after Spain's victory in the final at the 94 700-seat Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, the chief executive of the South African Football Association told a parliamentary committee on sport and recreation that football had challenges to overcome to keep its world-class venues in use and profitable.

"It is nice to tell people we filled up a stadium but how much do we charge? R40?" Leslie Sedibe said on Tuesday. "People need to understand ... we will have to revisit these issues around ticket prices if we are serious about development, because that is where the money is going to come from."

Sticking to traditionally low ticket prices for South Africa's low-income football fans will mean the modern arenas - which are more expensive to maintain - would face a struggle to make ends meet.

The South African government spent an estimated $1.3 billion building and upgrading the 10 stadiums used for the monthlong tournament.

Sedibe said the new stadiums would cost at least R500 000 to hire for a day, without security costs, and charging low prices for local games would mean "there is something wrong with the economy."

More commercially successful sports in South Africa like rugby and cricket could ensure the stadiums are properly utilized. Many of the facilities have no home team and no regular source of income.

At Tuesday's committee meeting, Graham Mackenzie, a member of parliament, urged Safa to meet with rugby and cricket bosses immediately.

"We have magnificent stadiums and at the moment they are ranked No. 1 in the world," Mackenzie said. "If we engaged other sports, we can ensure we don't have a legacy of 'white elephants."

South Africa's rugby world champion Springboks are set to face New Zealand in a Tri-Nations game at Soccer City on Aug. 21. Most of the tickets will cost R350 or more, and the South African Rugby Union is expecting an 88 000 sellout.

Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium - also built for the World Cup - will host a Twenty20 cricket match between South Africa and India in early 2011 after an agreement between the city council and Cricket South Africa.

It's hoped similar deals may be struck at Cape Town's 70 000-seat Green Point Stadium. But they appear few and far between.

Many of the country's long-standing provincial rugby and cricket teams are reluctant to move away from their home stadiums, which are cheaper to run.

Even the country's two biggest football clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, have said they will stay at smaller, more manageable stadiums in the township of Soweto - and not at the nearby Soccer City.

It could also prove difficult to attract big crowds to the new stadiums in the more remote northern cities of Rustenburg, Polokwane and Nelspruit.

The World Cup afterglow is already fading for some as the rising cost of the biggest football event becomes apparent to a country still wrestling with widespread poverty.

South Africa's Student Congress has already criticized the World Cup as a waste of money.

"We could have used the same money, energy, zeal and enthusiasm to provide water, electricity, houses and free education for millions of poor South Africans," Sasco president Mbulelo Mandlana said.

Meanwhile, the boots South Africa midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala used to score the first goal at the World Cup in the opening match against Mexico on June 11 will go on display as part of a historic monument at Safa headquarters.

"(The boots) represent hope and they represent that we can deliver on a world stage," Sedibe said.