FIFA expects a high turnout

The world football body is also confident that more than 300 000 tickets left for the tournament will be sold out before kick-off on 11 June. Speaking during a press conference, broadcast live in Johannesburg, from Zurich, FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, said judging by the tickets sales and the excitement around Africas first World Cup, there was no reason to get numbers below what was achieved in Germany.

He said more than 200 000 tickets were sold in eight days during last weeks over the counter sales phase. If we can sell so many tickets in eight days, what can stop us from selling 300 000 in the next days left, Blatter said. FIFA is also considering reviewing its ticketing policy following lessons learnt in South Africa. This World Cup has taught us a lot of lessons. Maybe we need to be more flexible moving forward to 2014, said the federations General Secretary Jerome Valcke. Blatter, who has played an instrumental role in bring the tournament to Africa, said the excitement shown by South Africans towards the tournament over the past weeks has made him even more confident.

Millions of South Africans have risen to the occasion by taking part in several initiatives aimed at boosting the country image as a soccer loving nation. These include the football Friday initiative Blatter described as phenomenal and the fly the flag campaign. The 50 days countdown, a campaign organised by the Local Organising Committee, also attracted a lot international media attention. I wouldnt say Im nervous, Im like an actor getting ready to go to the stagethe adrenalin is pumping, Blatter said. It was Blatter who in 1998, amid protest from several football associations across Europe, called for the rotation policy in FIFA to give an African country an opportunity to host the world cup. It took him months of lobbying and convincing to get the majority of FIFA members for the rotation system to be passed.