The Royal Bafokeng Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located in Phokeng, Rustenburg in South Africa. This stadium has a seating capacity for 44,530 spectators.
It was built by the Royal Bafokeng Nation and is named after them. The tenant of this stadium is the Platinum Stars football team of the Premier Soccer League. Another team, Leopards of the Rugby league Currie Cup uses this stadium as its second ground.
History
The stadium was inaugurated in the year 1999 and has been renovated in 2009 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The first international match hosted by this stadium was between South Africa and Burkina Faso, in which the home team emerged victorious by a score of 2-1.
Major Matches
The Royal Bafokeng Stadium has hosted a number of big tournament matches since its inaugural event.
The stadium hosted six matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and four matches of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup including the 3rd spot match, won by Spain.
The stadium also hosted seven matches of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Controversies
A match between Zimbabwe and Madagascar ended in a controversial draw on this ground. The Zimbabwe team had appealed twice against the Madagascar team when two Zimbabwean players had been hacked down by the Madagascan players.
But surprisingly, the referee saw it as an invalid appeal and thus the match was drawn at 2-2.
Recent Matches
The last match to be played at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium was between Platinum Stars and Kaizer Chiefs which the guests won by 1-0.
A previous match of Platinum Stars on this ground against Bloemfontein Celtic ended in a draw at 0-0 in November, 2017.
