SAFA blames lack of vibe for ticket apathy

The World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) reported last week that fewer than 100 000 tickets had been sold for games to be played by South Africa, Cameroon, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria. Hosts South Africa, whose poor run of form saw them miss out on the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Angola and drop to number 85 in the FIFA World rankings, are not even in the top 10 in terms of ticket sales, which have been dominated by England, Germany, Italy and Argentina.

Following these revelations SAFA chief executive officer Lesley Sedibe last week told the media in Johannesburg that his organisation would soon embark on a programme of selling the first-ever World Cup to be hosted on African soil to the public, in order to boost ticket sales.

We need to create a vibe in South Africa for the World Cup and make sure that our people rally behind Bafana Bafana, said Sedibe during the announcement of locally-based South African players who will be part of the national team that will tour Germany and Brazil next month, to prepare for the World Cup which begins in June. The first thing we need to do is to identify what the challenges faced by our people are regarding the issue of tickets. We have to remember that the sale of tickets for the World Cup is different from what we are accustomed to, we are involved in discussions with our sponsors on this matter, he said.

One of the things we need to do as a matter of urgency is to find the way to reach out to our people and also identify a simpler way of ensuring they have access to the tickets. We are also meeting FIFA before the end of this month, where the issue of tickets will also be discussed.

However, a labour federation National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) on Wednesday blamed the poor ticket sales on what it termed excessive costs that are unaffordable to most poor locals. The federation called on both FIFA and the 2010 LOC to reduce the price of tickets and make them affordable price to all South Africans and other African states, especially the workers and the poor.

We strongly believe that the low purchases of the tickets are a manifestation of the sharpening class realities in our country and beyond our boarders, wherein the ordinary people cant even afford basic necessities such as bread, milk and a decent meal, said NUMSA national spokesman Castro Ngobese. The high and excessive tickets costs of the World Cup and the area of purchase the FNB bank will deprive the vast majority of workers and the poor of Africa from rallying behind their national teams.

We call on 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee to make World Cup tickets affordable to the poor and re-consider selling tickets at Post Offices as opposed to the capitalist banks, which are not located where the main supporters of football are residing. In our country and Africa, the workers and the poor are not only the bed-rock, main supporters and the reproducers of football stars, but they use football as a cathedral to promote peace, friendship and solidarity given the brutal role of capitalism on Africas under-development and ravaging wars.

The World Cup tickets are being sold in four categories, and the price depends on the location in the stadium as well as the stage of the tournament. Group games are more affordable than those in the elimination rounds. Category 4 tickets are reserved exclusively for South African residents and may only be bought using the local currency and applicants must provide proof of residence as a security measure.

The remaining three categories are available to all, both local residents and international visitors.

Prices range from R140 ($20) for a Category 4 group match ticket, to R6 300 ($632) for a Category 1 ticket alongside the field at the final. The cheapest ticket for the final is Category 4, at R1 050 ($105).

Tickets for the opening game are priced from R490 ($49) for Category 4, to R3 150 ($316) for Category 1.