The decision to make World Cup 2010 tickets available from 11 sales centres across South Africa over the counter and for cash is certainly having the desired effect of improving on previously disappointing sales figures.

The tickets could previously only be purchased online, a strategy which had been criticised for excluding fans who did not have internet access or credit cards to use. In South Africa, supporters typically pay for football tickets on match days with cash, so for the less well off in the local communities the concept of buying the tickets from a website was alien. A more accessible route to acquiring the tickets for local people was called out for.

This decision was reversed last week, and on Thursday morning, tickets became available in outlets near the host venues, such as malls and supermarkets. 500,000 tickets were made available via these means, including special reduced price tickets which retail at about £13 and are only available to South African people – the cheapest World Cup tickets there have been for several tournaments.

FIFA required all those wishing to buy tickets to supply proof of identity and address.

The volume of tickets included some coveted World Cup Final tickets. This match, on the 11th July, will be arguably the biggest sporting event of 2010. This was welcomed by football lovers throughout the host country.

On hearing that the tickets could now be bought for cash, many South Africans flocked to the sales centres on Wednesday afternoon to stake their place in the immense queues. Some even took the day off from work. Some locals interviewed by the press while waiting in line said they hadn’t queued like that since they voted for Mandela in 1994.

The sales did not go entirely smoothly however. At some sales centres there were some technical problems with the computers issuing the tickets which slowed down the transactions and caused those who had been waiting in the sun for many hours to become further aggravated. In some of the queues small scuffles and skirmishes broke out and the police had to step in to control the frustrated crowds. In one case, they even felt it necessary to use pepper spray to restore order to those waiting to get tickets from the Boston Mall in Pretoria.

One man, a 64 year old, sadly died while waiting in the line at the Cape Town sales centre. The man, who has not been named, suffered what is believed to be a heart attack. At the time he was taken ill, appearing to have a seizure, he was number 565 in the ticketing queue.

Despite these unfortunate incidents, on the whole most supporters were excited and happy to be getting hold of World Cup tickets, with one man waiting at the Maponya Mall in Soweto saying that when he got to the front and got his hands on his ticket, he was going to kiss it.