Despite being cheaper than in previous World Cup finals, tickets are still beyond the means of many poor Africans.
Though the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was said to be an African festival, many African fans will not be part of the football fiesta owing to the high cost of tickets and the absence of direct flights to South Africa. Despite 2010 seats being cheaper than in previous World Cup finals, they are still beyond the means of many poor people. There is a disappointment with sales across Africa, where the expense of travel is likely to be a factor for fans of Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
As a result, with 3.2m tickets up for grabs worldwide, the top-buying country outside South Africa is neighbouring Botswana, where only about 1,700 tickets have been bought. Sales in football-mad countries like Nigeria run into only a few hundred. "The ticket sales on the continent are not what we expected," said local organising committee CEO, Danny Jordaan.
With ticket sales flagging worldwide, a maximum of just 200,000 foreign visitors against the initial estimate of 500,000 are expected in South Africa during the month-long tournament. Ticket sales outside South Africa have been led by the United States with some 110.000 applications, followed by the UK's 41,529 and Australia's 15,523. Mexico was fourth, news Jordaan described as "unexpected."
To fill stadiums, ticket kiosks have been opened in South Africa and tens of thousands of tickets have recently been made available to local fans at the exceptionally low price of 20 dollars. But fans in the rest of Africa are still expected to pay the international price of 80 dollars.
