Few Africans at World Cup

Football fans from the rest of Africa account for only two percent of tickets sold at the first World Cup on the African continent, a research study showed on Wednesday.

The study published by Grant Thornton international business consultants at the 50 days to the tournament mark on Wednesday, shows only 11 300 Africans outside host nation South Africa have bought tickets to the World Cup.

That compares with an original estimate of 48 145 Africans travelling to the tournament and represents a fraction of the around 200 000 foreign football fans expected to make the trip.

“Given evidence of huge interest from the continent, this indicates that there has been a failure in distribution channels and unaffordable pricing,” Grant Thornton found.

Two factors mitigate against more Africans attending the World Cup, which FIFA has presented as being an “African” World Cup and not an uniquely South African affair.

First, Africans are not entitled to cheap category four tickets.

These tickets, which begin at about R140 for a group game, excluding the opening game between South Africa and Mexico on June 11, are available only to South African residents.

Secondly, the only way most fans outside of South Africa can obtain tickets is by purchasing by credit card over the internet. But most Africans have no internet access or credit cards.

A number of African journalists were vocal in their complaints to FIFA about the ticket cost and buying process when they toured the 10 World Cup stadiums in March.

Following disappointing ticket sales in Europe, FIFA said recently it would consider opening up the cheap tickets to the rest of Africa.

From an initial forecast of 450 000 foreign fans, the World Cup organizers now say they expecting somewhere in the region of 200 000 to 300 000.

By dividing the total number of tickets sold outside South Africa to date by five (the number of tickets each visitor is expected to purchase) Grant Thornton arrived at a figure of 228 500 foreign fans.

Each of these is expected to spend 18 days in the host country and spent on average R30 200, the researchers said.

In total, 2.9 million tickets are available for the World Cup, of which South Africans have bought 1,1 million tickets to date.

Kick-off on June 11 is actually 51 days away, but FIFA counts June 10 as the start date of the tournament. — Sapa