World Cup 2010 Tickets are selling fast and prices are sky-rocketing since the world cup is just around the corner. Tickets are still being sold at some places are still providing discounted and cheap World Cup Tickets
Scuffles and computer glitches hit World Cup ticket sales today as thousands of South Africans queued for a first chance to buy them over the counter. Some waited for 20 hours and camped overnight for the last phase of sales, boosting hopes that local support would answer the organisers' prayers and shift half a million unsold seats. But there were some ominous hiccups along the way.
First in line at the ticket booth in Sandton, Johannesburg, was Mohamed Dadabhay, a 19-year-old graphic design student who had been waiting with friends since 1pm on Wednesday. He walked triumphantly up to the counter at 9am then, after more than half an hour, was sent to collect his ticket from a computer kiosk. It failed to work and he was followed across the room by a rolling scrum of reporters, photographers and TV cameramen to another kiosk. That failed too.
Amid a growing sense that the launch was turning into a PR disaster of Heathrow terminal 5 proportions, Dadabhay turned to a desk intended for pre-ordered ticket collections. A staff member anxiously punched buttons on a computer as media encircled the desk and interviewed the unwitting celebrity fan
He eventually received more than a dozen printed tickets, including ones for the opening game and the final, nearly an hour after placing his order. "I thought the ticket machines would work," he said. "It's a little chaotic. I think the system is overloaded. But now I've got the tickets in my hand, I'm over the moon."
Dadabhay was among hundreds of South Africans who had queued in the nine host cities, eager for a chance to witness Africa's first World Cup in June. Fifa had agreed to drop its rule that tickets, including the remaining 300 for the final,
could only be bought online or through a ballot, making them available at the 11 centres and 600 bank branches and, from Monday, at popular supermarkets. That makes it easier for the many South Africans without internet access or credit cards.In Sandton there was pushing and shoving outside the ticket centre as fans jostled for position. Security guards were controlling the numbers allowed in and police were also present. The crowd caused traffic congestion in Johannesburg's business hub.
Darryl Smith, 54, a doctor, was third in line having queued overnight with his wife, Wendy. "This morning there was a lot of people trying to jostle and barge into the queue, but fortunately everyone had a number," he said. "Inside there were also a lot of problems. To put in a multiple purchase order, the system kept crashing. They had to do it one by one. But then the cricket World Cup was also a shambles."
Thembi Mpofu, 35, waiting with her husband Nkanyiso, 39, felt frustrated: "Fifa should have anticipated this crowd. The system could have been better. This is not a Third World country – they should know their target market."
Local media reported that the technical glitches were happening nationwide. But Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the World Cup organising committee, shrugged off the complaints: "It happens when you use technology. The moment you want not to have a glitch, you have a glitch. We printed tickets this morning and it was working perfectly. Then when you come and the cameras are here, somehow the machine gets shy and it doesn't happen. But I'm happy it's back online."
Asked by one British journalist about the chaos, Jordaan, visibly irritated, snapped: "I don't think you understand chaos. It seems you have never been with football fans buying tickets. The experience today is exactly the same as buying a Manchester United or Arsenal ticket."
But he added later: "It can take 10 minutes if you buy one ticket. It can take an hour if you buy more or if you phone a friend to discuss it. 'I'm not buying Chelsea v Man United, I'm buying a series of tickets.' It's quite a complex process over 64 matches."
Jordaan admitted the number of foreign visitors expected for the tournament had been dramatically revised down from initial estimates of 450,000. "We are way over 100,000 fans here, maybe 200,000," he said. "We will see. The reality is the world has changed because of the global economic crisis. But I still think we might get 300,000. Another target for fans coming is the performance of the teams. If England gets to the second round or quarter-finals, we will see another wave of visitors."
The excitement continued at ticket centres across South Africa. "I'm going to kiss my ticket when I get it," said a man called Godfrey at the Maponya Mall in Soweto. He did not want to give his name because he was skipping work to stand in line. "The last time I waited in a line like this was when I voted for Mandela," he said, recalling the elections won by Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994
But in Cape Town a 64-year-old pensioner collapsed and died from a suspected heart attack while standing in line just after 7am.
Fifa said last week 2.2m tickets have been sold so far. Demand in South Africa had initially been sluggish but the most recent phase saw locals snap up 85% of the 240,000 tickets sold between February and the beginning of this month. At 140 rand (£12.40), tickets are still well above normal prices for top-level football in South Africa. Vincent Maphosa, living in Tembisa, a township near Johannesburg, said he would wait for discount. "There are people living in townships who can afford it but they are reluctant to spend the money," he said
