Despite Mr Comitis’ ‘anger’ and ‘frustration’ and his regrettable comments about the Stadium undermining professional football, the facts are as follows:

• The primary reason for our decision is the safety of the players which the Stadium treats with paramount importance. The grass pitch at Cape Town Stadium (CTS) was found to not meet the Premier Soccer League’s traction standards and players could slip and injure themselves.
• The City and CTS are unable to control weather patterns. There have been four cold fronts in quick succession. This has not happened for many years and has prevented the grass from ‘knitting’ properly. Of further consideration is that our specialist service provider has just concluded a follow up traction test. They have advised us that there has been no improvement to the pitch since the last test, which was conducted on Monday 5 August 2019. Taking the weather forecast and predicted average temperatures into consideration, they have further advised that the pitch will unfortunately not be match-ready by 17 August 2019. As a safety precaution, we have thus taken a considered position that the match be played at an alternative venue. 
• The Stadium is in the middle of its normal, scheduled, three-year maintenance and repair programme, a standard protocol for all stadiums. All events, whether sports, music or other entertainment affect pitches and grass.
• Mr Comitis’ comment that soccer doesn’t matter to the Cape Town Stadium is disingenuous and we treat it with the contempt it deserves. We have hosted 84 soccer matches in the past three seasons as well as unscheduled National First Division games when Athlone Stadium was not available. Cape Town City also enjoys a greatly reduced rate for using the Stadium because of our passion for this home-grown club.

Despite Mr Comitis’ assertion that he only discovered that the venue was unable to be used four days before the event, the facts are as follows:

• The Cape Town City Football Club (CTC FC) was first made aware on 2 July 2019 that the Cape Town Stadium pitch may not be ready on 10 August. There is written evidence of this.
• The warning was repeated during a meeting and pitch inspection with the Club representatives on 8 July. 
• At the safety-planning meeting for the event on 30 July, the Club and Stadium agreed to test the pitch on Monday, 5 August to give the grass maximum time to ‘knit’.
• Due to the continued cold and wet conditions, the test revealed that the pitch did not sufficiently knit, hence it did not meet safety standards. The Stadium has done everything possible get the pitch in a good condition. At its own expense, the Stadium has been using growing lamps around the clock for the last three weeks in an attempt to get the pitch ready.

It is our assertion that the expectations of the Club were managed from the beginning.

Mr Comitis’ statements in the media are disappointing in light of the commitment the Stadium and the City have consistently shown to the soccer fraternity in general and Cape Town City in particular with reduced rates, and subsidised City services.

End