Fans face tough Afcon rules

No ambush marketing will be allowed; at the World Cup in 2010 Mirte Nieuwpoort and Barbara Castelein were detained by police at Soccer City for allegedly being involved in an ambush marketing campaign by Bavaria beer. Picture: Jennifer Bruce

No ambush marketing will be allowed; at the World Cup in 2010 Mirte Nieuwpoort and Barbara Castelein were detained by police at Soccer City for allegedly being involved in an ambush marketing campaign by Bavaria beer. Picture: Jennifer Bruce

Published Jan 5, 2013

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Football fans will be banned from taking bottles of water into the host venues of the African Cup of Nations 2013, starting in 14 days, in case they are used as missiles and thrown on to the pitch during the tournament.

This is one of the many security plans that will be put in place by the organisers including a clampdown on ambush marketing on T-shirts, flyers, billboard adverts, posters and unauthorised trading near host venues.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the tournament has also vowed to clamp down on any non-Afcon sponsors’ companies seeking to gain from associating with the games, and will ban ticket touts.

“We need a clean stadium environment throughout the tournament,” said LOC spokesman Sipho Sithole.

Ambush marketing is when a firm tries to create an unauthorised association between their name or brand and a major sporting event, detracting from the rights of official sponsors of the event.

During the World Cup 36 Dutch women wearing identical dresses, which featured in a Dutch brewery Bavaria beer promotion, were ejected during a match at Soccer City for ambush marketing.

Sithole said the LOC would deploy trained inspectors inside the stadium to work with security to ensure that sponsors’ rights were not violated. He added that the organisers had also put in place measures to limit ticket touting outside the stadium, but admitted this could prove difficult.

“It’s a tricky question, but we hope the security features on the tickets, such as bearing the holder’s ID number and name, will limit the extent to which they can be sold on the black market,” he said.

The rules surrounding trading in and around the stadium will also be stricter than during local games, Sithole said. Local traders will be allowed to sell food and other permitted merchandise like vuvuzelas at dedicated places around the venues.

The sale and use of alcohol before and after the games inside the venues would also be restricted to permitted hours and regulated areas.

Last week Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies published liquor regulations for the Afcon tournament allowing control of liquor selling, licensing and usage during and after matches in various cities. The regulations, which will be in effect until February 28, allow law enforcement to refuse further supply of liquor for consumption to a visibly intoxicated person. Refusal to adhere to the rules by liquor traders or a person purchasing or consuming liquor could lead to penalties.

Meanwhile, the LOC said it had sold just over 40 000 tickets for the opening game at Soccer City between Bafana Bafana and Cape Verde. The tournament takes place from January 19 to February 10. The opening match and the final are in Joburg.

Afcon tickets can be purchased online at www.eqtickets.com or at selected Spar outlets.

Saturday Star

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