The official ha Handover of stadium to Fifandover of Outeniqua Park Stadium in George to Fifa took place on Friday 28 May. Fifa representative Vernon Seymore of the South African Football Association (Safa) accepted the keys of the stadium from Andre Smith head of Environmental Services at George municipality.

The stadium will be out of bounds from June 1 when it will be used exclusively by the Japanese national football team, who chose George as its base camp and training ground during the World Cup.

The team arrives on June 6.

“In terms of the agreement with Fifa and the George municipality, the stadium will be an exclusive use area, from June 1 to June 24, after Japan plays the last of its first round pool matches. During this period we will enforce the accreditation process and the stadium will be restricted to accredited persons such as security personnel and ground staff,” Seymore said.

He said it is possible the Japanese team could stay longer in George if the team goes into further rounds, instead of moving to a high altitude base camp, “as Japan likes the area very much.”

Smith said a special word of thanks to Eden District municipality, Mayor Leon Dorfling, acting municipal manager Morne Hoogbaard and 2010 district coordinator Andy Lamont for their marketing campaigns to attract base camp teams to the Garden Route.

“I want to thank Vernon on behalf of Safa and South West Districts (SWD) Rugby for their understanding and help. I also want to thank the municipality and my department under Wessel Keller who worked here day and night to make sure that what he (Seymore) takes over on June 1 is according to Fifa standards.”

The public will be able to watch the Japanese team practice on June 7 during an official open public viewing session at Outeniqua Park.