South Africa's sport stadiums will be forced to change their names for the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup to accommodate Fifa's chosen sponsors.
There is also confusion as to whether rugby matches would be forced to take place in stadiums under the new names, as the World Cup extends from the start of the Confederations Cup in 2009 to the end of the World Cup final in 2010 - a period of exactly a year.
The need for stadium name changes was disclosed during a meeting of the national sssembly's sport committee on Monday as MPs discussed the implications of the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa Special Measures Bill.
Briefing the committee, Deputy Sport and Recreation Minister Gert Oosthuizen said Fifa was within its rights to change the stadiums' names to reflect those of its official sponsors.
"Fifa might want to change the names of the stadiums to bring them in line with their sponsors," he told the committee.
The department of sport's legal adviser, Gideon Boshoff, explained this was because of agreements signed with Fifa preventing ambush marketing. This meant that no other advertisers, except Fifa's accredited brands, would be permitted to display their advertising for the duration of the World Cup and Confederations Cup, he said.
Confusion reigned when committee member Cedric Frolick asked if the new names would have to stay from the start of the Confederations Cup in 2009 to the end of the World Cup in 2010 or whether the names would revert to the original during the period in between.
Boshoff said while the bill defines the event as "the Fifa World Cup football tournament to be staged in and hosted by the Republic in 2010 in terms of the Organising Association Agreement, and includes the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup to be staged in the Republic in 2009", he was not sure.
It was later assumed that stadiums would revert to the original names between events. MPs also wanted to know when the marketing protection offered to Fifa would come to an end.
Boshoff explained that Fifa had asked for the proposed law - which currently talks about one month after the final game - to be amended. He said Fifa had raised concerns that it might not manage to clear away all its marketing material within the stipulated time.
Boshoff's announcement that the deadline was made open-ended raised fears among certain committee members, including chairperson Butana Komphela.
Komphela suggested the clause should be renegotiated with Fifa.
Fifa announced in March that the FNB and Ellis Park stadiums in Johannesburg; Loftus in Pretoria; the Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg; Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein; Green Point in Cape Town; Absa Stadium in Durban; Peter Mokaba in Polokwane; Mbombela in Nelspruit; and Nelson Mandela Metro in Port Elizabeth would be used during the tournament.