Kia Backs U-20 World Cup In New Zealand
With the excitement of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil still fresh, attention now turns to New Zealand, which will host the
U-20 World Cup tournament next year, with Kia Motors retained as an official partner.
The Kia Motors New Zealand team is already gearing up for the 2015 event, which is one of the top sporting events of the
calendar.
“We are talking with our head office in Korea, as well as with football officials here in New Zealand, to determine how
we will coordinate our efforts to make the Under-20 World Cup a big success,” says Todd McDonald, General Manager of Kia
Motors New Zealand.
“It is going to be a fantastic tournament, with some of the football stars of tomorrow playing in our own back yard and
Kia Motors will be helping to make sure that it not only plays out smoothly, but also shows New Zealand in a very
positive light.”
The FIFA U-20 World Cup takes place over three weeks from May 30-June 20 next year and will involve 24 teams from six
continents playing across seven nationwide host cities, including Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, New
Plymouth, Wellington and Whangarei. A total of 52 games will be played and an estimated 500,000 tickets are expected to
be sold throughout the tournament, with up to 170 million also expected to watch on TV from more than 100 countries.
Auckland will host the opening match as well as a selection of pool matches, a quarter-final, a semi-final, 3rd/4th
play-off and the final. All of the nine matches in Auckland will be played at North Harbour Stadium, which is also the
home of New Zealand football.
Christchurch will host six pool matches, one of the round-16 games, a quarter final and the other semi-final at the
Christchurch Stadium. Wellington will see six pool matches, too, a round-16 double-header and a quarter final at the
Wellington Regional Stadium. Hamilton will also get six pool matches, a round-16 match and a quarter final. Otago
Stadium in Dunedin will provide the only covered stadium for the tournament, hosting seven matches, including a round-16
game, while Stadium Taranaki will get five pool matches and a round-16 clash, with Whangarei hosting three pool matches
and a round-16 match.
Outside of the Rugby World Cup and cricket One-day World Cup, this is likely to be one of the bigger sporting events to
be hosted in New Zealand in recent years.
Typically, Kia Motors provides transport for key FIFA officials – for the Brazil World Cup just held, the Kia fleet
numbered 410-vehicles for the month-long tournament, including the stylish Sportage CUV, capacious Carnival MPV and
Cerato sedans. Coaches to transport participating teams to and from matches were also provided.
Mr McDonald says it is too early to say what sort of fleet will be required for next year’s U-20 World Cup.
ends