14/01/2010

World Cup 2010 ticket debate continues

Yesterday’s column started off with concerns about the low number of tickets bought by South Africans and Africans in general for World Cup games featuring their countries. So this morning I was very pleased to find an article from the Port Elizabeth-based Herald. Some of the comments from fans are worth quoting in full.

“We support the tournament,” said Bongiwe Cezula, of New Brighton, “but the LOC should start marketing the World Cup in the township and inform the people about how and where to get tickets. The prices are skyrocketing. The solution is to drop the prices and give free entrance to pensioners and disabled people.”

Shaun Henwick from Richmond Hill wants to see some games but is clearly being put off: “Even though I am a huge soccer fanatic, I won’t be going to see any of the games because I imagine they are very expensive. I don’t even know what the exact procedure is to buy a ticket and what World Cup games will be played in Port Elizabeth.”

And Zane Brits from Summerstrand isn’t happy: “I have no clue about where to buy tickets for the World Cup even though I am a huge soccer lover. I am also very disappointed in the way the ticket sales have been handled because the public does not have any idea where to buy the tickets for matches.”

By contrast, Radvonn Gennike of Cape Town isn’t fazed by worries about ticket availability: “I have not yet bought tickets, but I am planning to gather as many as I can. I don’t feel the organising team has done a good job of alerting the public about where to buy tickets because I still do not know where I will get them. But I do feel they are reasonably priced.”

And lucky Eleanor Bekker, also from Summerstrand, is all set: “We have already bought six tickets for the World Cup in June. We are looking forward to watching all of the games at the beautiful new Nelson Mandela Bay stadium. I really did not experience any problems while buying the tickets through the bank.”

Click here for the full article.

Groundsmen at the new Wembley will doubtless be making contingency plans if talks about a revival of England v Scotland matches come to a satisfactory conclusion. They might, for instance, insist that all games are played anywhere other than Wembley, simply to avoid a repeat of this.



Here’s a quick run through the latest action from the African Nations Cup. It seems those teams not going to the World Cup (Egypt, Malawi) are actually better than the qualifiers (Algeria, Cameroon). Even the Ivory Coast have started slowly, although they should have scored a hatful against Burkina Faso if this article is any guide.

And what would I do without the good old Daily Mail? If you are going to the World Cup, find out more about the “stab-resistant protection vests” available in your team’s colours. Priceless.

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