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Nigerians converge on Durban

MULTITUDES of Nigerian soccer lovers are coming to South Africa in June for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and will set up their fan base in Durban.

MULTITUDES of Nigerian soccer lovers are coming to South Africa in June for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and will set up their fan base in Durban.

The Nigerian Football Federation has concluded arrangements for the Naija Fan Village, which will be situated at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville campus.

Nigerian fans won't have to travel long distances to see their national team players like John Obi Mikel, Obafemi Martins and Ayegbeni Yakubu, in training.

This comes after the Super Eagles signed a contract with Fifa to set up their team base camp in Durban for the duration of the World Cup.

Durban impressed the Nigerian soccer authorities after a delegation inspected the city along with Johannesburg and Bloemfontein.

A private company has been enlisted to market, manage and operate The Naija Fan Village, which will be open from June 8 to July 11. This fan viewing and exhibition centre located on Westville Road will cater for an estimated daily audience of 5000 people (total of between 160 000 and 200 000) for the duration of the World Cup.

The primary target audience are Nigerian fans from Nigeria and South Africa (there are up to 500000 Nigerians in South Africa and an estimated 20000 Nigerians will make the trip to South Africa from Nigeria).

The Naija Fan Village will feature the hospitality for which Nigeria is famed and includes 3500 beds, a cafeteria, gymnasium, merchandise stands, exhibition stands and match ticket terminals.

Nkechi Nneka Obi, whose company will manage the village, said: "KwaZulu-Natal has adopted the Super Eagles as the team of Durban, and has pulled out all the stops to ensure we have a good outing."

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