Moses Mabhida Stadium to roll out the red carpet for Carling Knockout final next month

Moses Mabhida Stadium officials say they will roll out the red carpet for the Carling Knockout Cup final on December 16. 

The iconic 2010 Fifa World Cup venue has been a preferred venue in recent years and this is the second final being held there this season after hosting the last match of the MTN8 between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns on October 7.   

The announcement of Moses Mabhida as the venue is a big talking point among football supporters because of its regularity of hosting finals but stadium manager Dr Vusi Mazibuko says they are always available and ready. 

“The Premier Soccer League (PSL) doesn’t have a bidding process for finals, together with the sponsor they decide where the final is going to be,” explained Mazibuko. 

“From a sponsorship view, they will consider their marketing strategy and how they want their campaign to go. From a venue point of view, we prepare ourselves and from the beginning of the season we make ourselves available for at least two finals.

“As part of our strategy, we make sure the stadium is available on dates of knockout stages and finals when the league programme is announced in case we are approached. 

“The stadium is busy with a lot of other events but for dates that coincide with finals, we don’t book the stadium out whether we get the final or not. What is important is that when we receive the call, whether we are available or not, the answer must be that we are available.” 

“Second, we make sure that every time we host a final we do it as if it is the first time. For the MTN8 final in October, we knew the only thing that would make us get the next one was to keep it fresh.” 

The Carling Knockout will be without the so-called big three — Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. Mazibuko said there is “no small final” but one advantage is that the final is scheduled to be held on a long weekend. 

“We roll out the red carpet in terms of services. Remember all our services and internal [services] like the kitchen, set-up and public catering are some of our income streams. 

“I know that some people will say that it is a final without big teams like Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns and will be a small final but for us there is no such thing as small final. 

“A final is a final irrespective of who is playing in it and we have a history of that, we have had finals where big teams were not there and we made those finals big.

“Obviously, there are other added advantages that we have. December 15 has been declared a public holiday and the final is on December 16. This will make sense for the final to be in Durban. 

“It is a holiday weekend and you know Durban with domestic travellers and tourists, you want to take the final to where those people are and those people are coming to Durban.” 

According to the semifinal draw, Richards Bay, who knocked out Orlando Pirates in the quarterfinals, will host Stellenbosch on December 2 and AmaZulu will take on TS Galaxy on December 3.