More than 300 000 online ticket applications for the 2010 Fifa World Cup were received within 48 hours of the opening of ticket sales, the Cup’s Organising Committee said on Monday.
”This is a very happy moment,” said the committee’s chief executive Dr Danny Jordaan at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Visitors Centre.
This figure excludes thousands of other applications being processed through First National Bank (FNB) branches countrywide.
”The fervour is already palpable within South Africa and all around the world … everyone wants to take part in this extraordinary event,” said Jordaan.
Tickets went on sale on Friday.
Fans have until midnight on March 31 2009 to make ticket applications on the www.fifa.com website.
In addition, South African residents have the opportunity to file a hard paper application in one of the 700 FNB branches across the country.
”We are going to be so proud. We have to do our best to save money and enjoy it,” soccer fan Nelson Gumede told AFP while picking up an application form in Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
This is the first phase of ticket sales and all applicants who register correctly by the end of this sales period will have an equal opportunity to get tickets, as a random draw will take place on April 15 to determine which applicants receive tickets for oversubscribed matches.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup is set to take place in June next year.
Global demand
Meanwhile applications from 128 countries for 216 975 World Cup tickets were received on Saturday via the Fifa website, Fifa officials said.
The biggest orders came from South Africa, followed by Britain, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Argentina.
”These are fantastic numbers, underlying yet again the fervour taking hold around the world for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the first on the African continent,” David Will, chairperson of the Fifa ticketing sub-committee, said.
Fifa has some three million tickets available for 64 matches, ranging from $80 for group stages to $900 dollars for the final.
Tickets will be available in three types of sales phases: the random selection draw, the first-come-first-served, and last-minute sales.
The draw for the 32 qualified teams will take place in Cape Town in December.
Fifa is hoping around 450 000 fans will travel to the tournament.
One person is allowed to apply for only four tickets per game for a maximum of seven matches. A ticket applicant may not apply for two matches taking place on the same day.
For the first time in the history of the world’s top soccer event, Fifa has set aside 120 000 discounted tickets for South African residents, including 40 000 free tickets for stadium construction workers.
This week around 400 builders at the stadium site in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, were dismissed for going on strike in a move that could put at risk its July completion deadline.
The Fifa deadline for the completion of all the 10 stadiums is October 15.
Confederations Cup ticket glitches
On Friday the Mail & Guardian reported that many local soccer fans are still waiting for their Confederations Cup tickets. This has sparked questions about the efficiency of the ticket system for the two tournaments.
A substantial number of eager fans who applied for Confederations Cup tickets when they went on sale in November last year have not heard whether their applications have been successful. As things stand, they fear losing out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a World Cup finals tournament.
Jaime Byrom, the co-chairperson of Fifa’s ticket agency Match, acknowledged this week that ”there is a backlog” and that Fifa has set up a mechanism to address the problem.
”We are trying very hard to find out what the issues are and we have established a service centre to look at the problem. You might find that people gave us the wrong details when they applied and we are unable to contact them. I just don’t know the total number of people who are experiencing problems but we have sold about 150 000 tickets so far,” said Byrom. — Lucky Sindane, AFP, Sapa-dpa, Sapa