Tickets for all 64 games in the 2010 World Cup finals tournament are now available for people in the host nation of South Africa to buy for cash. This even includes tickets to the climactic final itself, which will be held on the 11th of July in Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium.

Prior to this ruling, the policy for ticketing for the games meant that they could only be obtained online or via a balloting process. On Wednesday FIFA finally overturned this, meaning that whilst availability remains, fans in the host country will be able to get tickets at all manner of outlets including supermarkets and shopping centres.

As this is the first time the iconic international spectacle has been held in Africa, where football has grown massively in popularity in the last 20 years, this is a major coup for local fans of the sport.

Many South Africans felt that the original ticketing policy was not accessible to those without credit cards or access to the internet, and they are welcoming this new, far more inclusive approach.

South Africa’s own international squad are definite outsiders to win the competition with current odds ranging from 80 to 150 to 1. Other African nations Nigeria and Cameroon also have long odds, but Ghana are in the middle of the 32 team pack at around 66-1. The Ivory Coast, whose star player is reliable goal scorer and top Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, are currently the favourite African team at about 25-1.

There is a strong history of outsider host nations doing well in the tournament however, as typified by South Korea who eventually came fourth when they were joint hosts with Japan in 2002. It is understandable that there are a lot of people in South Africa who are very keen to have the opportunity to be there for one of the biggest festivals of sport there is, as well as supporting their home team.

Tickets to the matches vary in price, but there is a special ticket category for those who can prove they are local residents, retailing at just £13, or 145 rand in South African money. These are the very cheapest tickets, and after the group stage prices do increase pretty drastically, with the best seats at the final retailed at 6582 rand, which works out at £582 today.

The man in charge of making the 2010 World Cup a success, Danny Jordaan, was quoted as saying: “We are excited about these new initiatives, which make the process much easier for everyone. We have always said that it is important that we make this World Cup more accessible to the people and with over the counter sales, we believe this measure is consistent with the needs of the fans.”

FIFA have revealed that 2.2 million tickets have already been sold for the month long tournament, which kicks of on June 11th with Group A matches between the hosts, Mexico, Uruguay and France.