With another one million tickets to next year’s World Cup going on sale from Johannesburg, Africans are being encouraged to support the events and buy their tickets now.
Sowetan reports that 700,000 tickets have already been sold for the 2010 football World Cup, which kicks off next summer in South Africa. Ticket sales are expected to be competitive, but at the third ticketing phase launch in Johannesburg this week, the event’s Local Organising Committee chief executive, Danny Jordan, said that Africans need to support their continent by not leaving their ticket purchases until the last minute.
Mr Jordan stated: “If we want this to be an African World Cup, then Africans must buy tickets. We want better sales for [the South African national football team] Bafana Bafana.
“We can’t wait for 100 years for the World Cup to come to our country and then wait and buy tickets at the last minute.”
Ticket sales to World Cup events across South Africa are being strictly regulated, with random allocation and a maximum of four tickets per person for each match, with a limit of seven matches overall. However, attendees can opt to buy team specific tickets, which means they can rent a car in Johannesburg or Cape Town and follow their chosen team between cities.
Mr Jordan also stated that next year’s event will be one of the cheapest World Cups in memory, particularly for locals. He explained: “The exchange rate has been fixed at R7 and people living in South Africa will pay only R140 for tickets.”
