Kia Backs U-20 World Cup In New Zealand

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.

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