The 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium, Mbombela, is ready for this weekend. It will host back-to-back matches involving Mpumalanga Black Aces and Platinum Stars tomorrow, and Tuks FC and Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

The stadium official, Mthuthuzeli Xamba, said even though the ticket sales for the two fixtures were going at a snail’s pace, they were ready to host the games here and the pitch was in good condition.

“We are not happy with the ticket sales, especially for the Aces/Stars fixture, there is still plenty of time and we hope that supporters will go and buy tickets just before the games,” said Xamba.

“As for the preparations on our side to host these games, I can safely tell you we are ready and the pitch is in good playable shape.

“We are confident that it will be a success as we have hosted many other games here.

“All we are asking from our soccer supporters is to buy tickets and come back the teams up so that they continue giving us more action in the future,” he appealed.

He said for tomorrow’s game, there would be free parking space at the stadium, but since they expected a huge turnout on Saturday, only limited space would be available then.

“Our normal park-and-ride spots will be operational and there will be buses transporting fans to and from the stadium. We ask that people arrive early so they are able to use designated entry points and sitting arrangements,” said Xamba.

“We have three VIP packages; the silver package (club south) and they are selling at R250 per person, the golden package (restaurant) are selling R450 per person and the platinum package which is going for R850.”

Kick-off for the Tuks FC vs Orlando Pirates game is 15:30.