| Football tickets sale date set |
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| Written by Ndaba Dlamini | |
| Friday, 05 September 2008 | |
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Millions of tickets for the 2009 Confederations Cup will be set aside for South Africans, and the pricing strategy will focus mainly on the domestic market. TICKETS for the FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa 2009? go on sale on 23 November 2008, a day after the draw for the tournament is held in Sandton. This was revealed by the new head of the legal department of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa (OC), Leslie Sedibe, in Nasrec on Thursday, 4 September. He said more than three million tickets would be set aside for those people living in the country and the pricing strategy would, therefore, focus mainly on the domestic market. "We want to ensure that the Confederations Cup is a truly South African experience. We also want South African football supporters, who are mostly in the low income bracket, to experience great football," he said. The Confederations Cup, known as the Festival of Champions as it pits the champions of the six FIFA Confederations, reigning world champions and next FIFA World Cup hosts, South Africa, against each other, will take place from 14 to 28 June 2009. It will be played at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium, Tshwane/Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Mangaung/Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium and Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace. South American champions Brazil, European champions Spain, African champions Egypt, 2006 FIFA World Cup™ champions Italy, 2010 hosts South Africa, Asian champions Iraq and CONCACAF champions the United States have qualified. The Oceania champions will complete the line-up. "It will be the first time in the history of the tournament that Africa will have two representatives among the eight participants, with host Bafana Bafana and the African champions Egypt taking part," said Danny Jordaan, the OC chief executive. The first match of the tournament will take place at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium on Sunday, 14 June, with the final match taking place at the same venue on Sunday, 28 June. Sedibe highlighted some pertinent issues concerning the 2010 World Cup By-law Programme, advertising, controlled access, public open spaces, city beautification, public roads and traffic guidance and street trading. He stressed that the establishment of the "Exclusive Zone" – the area surrounding or adjacent to a host stadium where commercial activities by any person other than FIFA's commercial affiliates are prohibited - would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. "It would be foolhardy, for example, to say no commercial activity [could] take place at Carlton Centre in the CBD because the area is within a 100m radius of Ellis Park Stadium." The OC would also take into consideration South African football culture, where food vendors set up stalls at stadiums, when setting up these Exclusive Zones. At the same event, Jordaan introduced new appointments at the OC: Derek Carstens is the new chief marketing officer; Phumlani Moholi is the new IT&T chief officer; and Skhumbuzo Macozoma is the new transport and logistics chief officer. Related stories: Related links: |
