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.

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.

Unfortunately, the response and sales were much less than expected. The government had hoped for this World Cup to attract 450,000 international spectators which is now down to a hopeful 350,000 but only around 100,000 international air tickets have been sold so far.

These low attendance numbers are defying the government’s efforts to push tourism following a 17 years recession period. This could also be a blow to President Jacob Zuma and Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA who were both so positive of this year’s World Cup being hosted there.

South Africa was hoping that the event would stimulate employment and the country’s economic growth but this is still to be experienced. Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile commented; “When the World Cup was awarded to us in 2004, the economic situation was completely different. We have to revisit those projections and be realistic.”

The initial building of the stadiums had given a boost to the unemployment situation but now those same 30,000 workers are jobless once again.

Hopes are still there for this event to boost the gross domestic product but many are being more realistic now, quoting lack of demand for tickets and hotel stays with them being 50 percent short of the target and the tournament sponsors and partners returning thousands of tickets for premium-price seats in luxury boxes.

Some key figures, such as Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, will not be attending the games but they were there for the 2006 event in Germany. This event had attracted about 2 million tourists and boosted the tourism industry with 300 million euros ($407 million) in revenue.

Being so close to the start of the games, it is surprising how many unsold tickets there are, whilst four years ago there were virtually no tickets left to be sold. It could be that the travelling involved and the cost to get into South Africa is a key reason for this with many Europeans wanting to go but not affording it. It is thus true that European hosting countries have that to their advantage when hosting.

Another reason would be the security issues surrounding trip to South Africa which has scared off many tourists. According to police statistics, South Africa has had 2.1 million serious crimes, including 18,148 murders during a year.

Some are still hopeful that the last-minute rush for tickets will save the day but this will be hard to achieve. However, finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is still optimistic; “There is no need to panic but rather to start selling South Africa even more feverishly.”

Tickets for 11 matches are now available during this 4th tickets sale phase :
5: England vs USA,
23: England vs Algeria,
37: Slovenia vs England,
45: Portugal vs Brazil,
54: Round 16 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg,
56: Round 16 at Cape Town,
59: Quarter Final at Cape Town,
60: Quarter Final at Ellis Park, Johannesburg,
61: Semi Final at Cape Town,
62: Semi Final at Durban and
64: Final at Soccer City, Johannesburg).

These are available until 7 April 2010 and tickets are will be sold on a “first come, first serve’ basis always subject to availability. The applications can be sent through the official FIFA website. FIFA’s Horst Schmidt added; “The first come first serve principle means that if you do not apply on time, you run the risk of not getting a ticket.”

As of the 9th of February, you can check for a list of updated ticket availability, including the team specific ticket series on FIFA.com.

Many football legends are supporting this World Cup and trying to give the sales an extra KICK.

Roger Milla for Cameroon commented, “In Africa, we are so happy to have received this “It was the right decision to finally have an African country hosting this tournament,” as well as the Mexican Hugo Sanchez; “I’m very happy for Africa. The continent had to wait so many years for this occasion. To have South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is not only very good for football, but also for the whole African continent.”

Pele stated; “Everybody knows that I’m very confident and happy because I was the one who was fighting for the World Cup to be in Africa. They deserve it.”

Of the other countries, USA lead this list for now with 22,942 tickets, and they are followed by UK, Mexico, Germany, Australia and then Brazil with 4760 tickets. Overall impressive 166 counties has been applying for the long awaited World Cup tickets.

“By buying a ticket, South Africans buy not only a seat to watch a match, but also their spot in South African history” was the comment from Danny Jordan of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa.

South African residents are encouraged to buy World Cup tickets and they also have more options of where to purchase them. Applications for individual tickets can be made via Fifa.com or also via specified websites operated by the respective federations of the different participating countries.

The price for group match can range from 20 USD to 160 USD. The least expensive tickets, category 4 tickets, has been reserved only for South African residents.

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The feedback from the South Africans until now has been good as we have seen at last week’s World Cup draw in Cape Town. 50 % of the tickets have been bought by South Africans so far but is still showing under the level of tickets sales expected by locals.

Some have complained about expensive ticket prices, even considering the discount offered to South Africans who are eligible to buy category D tickets priced at 140 rand ($18). Still these prices are about seven times more expensive than the usual round-the-year tickets they are usually used to buy. This might be the reason behind the disappointing ticket sales so far.

Last week, Jordaan sent out praises to the thousands of fans who attended the draw last Friday but also stated that he is concerned about the fact that South Africans fans might be outnumbered at the games saying they need to change their behavior.

He commented; “People gathered there from the morning to the next morning, celebrating the draw, not even a match. I can see the excitement. I always say South Africans are great believers, now is their time to believe. When they believe they embrace, they get excited about and they move into the streets. They celebrate an event. I think the world got some idea – both through the show and the streets of Cape Town – of what this World Cup is going to be about: a real World Cup with a human face, of human passion and excitement, joy and celebration. And our team must contribute. The responsibility is going to be heavier for Bafana Bafana, but each one of the 32 teams is carrying their own loads.”

Following the draw Jerome Valcke, FIFA secretary general commented on the fact that South Africa is now in a “difficult” group which they will have to face during the games. He also said last Saturday saw the start of the third phase of ticketing, with 7,000 individual applications received, now amounting to a total of 55,000 tickets received so far through the FIFA website.

British Airways flights are peaking at almost £3,000 for a first-class seat and with economy seats being almost impossible to find. Initially the airline, South African Airways had offers going for £500 return but this have now escalated to £1,500.

For those lucky enough to have the tickets in hand, there are still the extra expenses such as hotel costs and renting out cars, set to cost an outrageous £110 per day.

Also, according to the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) boss Danny Jordaan; the tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup are in great demand being sold. It seems that a total of 345 894 went to native South Africans while 304 633 went to the overseas fans. The Americans have been the biggest buyers, having bought most tickets – a total of 82 603, then followed by the British with 48 926 and Germans with 23 924.

Jordaan commented that the ticket sales by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other African countries were not as encouraging. Nevertheless, they do expect a turn of events and an increase in the demand for tickets after the Final Draw of the teams to be held in December in Cape Town. He commented; “We are very disappointed by our neighboring countries because it is not what we anticipated.”

With tickets being in high demand all over the globe, some have ventured into illegal ticket sales but at the moment FIFA is working closely with international authorities to break down these illegal tickets. FIFA stated; “While genuine tickets were sold online exclusively via the official website FIFA.com, unscrupulous individuals were taking advantage of the great appeal of this event by trying to use the internet to sell tickets they do not possess”.

There were also many who applied to be volunteers. By last August, a total of 67 999 people from around the world applied to be volunteers during the football spectacle, with most of them coming from the States. Jordan stated that all these applications would be processed with interviews being held later on.

Danny Jordaan also commented on the venue developments with the necessary construction of the stadia, roads and transportation to localities, disaster management, Information Communication Technologies, electricity issues and most of all safety issues.

He stated; “The story of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is a story of promise, potential, possibility and rich purpose. The travelling fans are going to have difficulties to get to the places whose names are not clearly on the directional signs or on the airport destination boards”.