Orlando Stadium renamed, but the ancestors seem unhappy

THE SUPERSTITIOUS in attendance were reading a lot into the glitch that spoilt what should have been a great reveal.

"The ancestors are not in agreement," a guy at my table claimed as the black cloth covering the new name failed to fully open up following an enthusiastic countdown by those in attendance.

Orlando Stadium was renamed the Orlando Amstel Arena at noon Tuesday with the beer company that is a supplier to the home side Orlando Pirates securing the naming rights from the club and the Stadium Management who manage the iconic venue.

Club legends and famous fans gathered at the stadium generally proclaimed as the spiritual home of South African football in excited anticipation of the renaming.

And while the wind momentarily blew the cloth for the sharp-eyed to see the new name, there was an anticlimax to the whole proceedings. Put high up on the stadium covering, the new name was covered and a group of men were strategically positioned below to pull ropes down at the right moment.

The excited MC having got the attendees to converge closer to the scene, began the countdown and the pulling begun. But part of the cloth got stuck on top of somw of the letters and all that could be seen was the word ARENA as the crowd cheered and the fireworks light up the sky. The name was then announced before it could be shown off as was clearly planned.

One of the men had to climb up all the way to the top to unhook the cloth, the full name ORLANDO (in white coloured letters) AMSTEL ARENA (in red letters) now visible to the cheering crowd. Some officials from Amstel though clearly disappointed chose to look on the bright side with one of them saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity".

He probably was right although there will be those who argue that the mishap was a bad omen, a sign that the ancestors of Orlando Stadium do not approve of the name change.

Not that any of the parties would take that seriously, not when Amstel are definitely making a proper financial injection that will ensure the proper maintanance and running of the arena.

Corporrates buying naming rights of stafium is common place the world over and local football can only follow suit.