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Some
two million tickets have already been sold for the World Cup, with just another
one million still available. Apply for your tickets now, FIFA advises.
MORE
than 400 000 tickets are up for grabs during the fourth ticket sales phase for
the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.
Don't miss out: grab your tickets for the World Cup now
This
phase, which opened this week, is one of the last chances for football fans to
ensure they don't miss out on attending one of the world's biggest sporting
events. It will run for 58 days, until 7 April. The tournament begins on 11
June.
Tickets
for this phase will be allocated on a "first come, first serve" basis subject
to availability, and FIFA is urging fans to apply speedily.
"As
we enter this fourth ticketing phase, it is important for football fans to note
that time is very important when [applying] for a ticket," says Horst Schmidt, the
chairman of the FIFA World Cup Ticketing Sub-Committee in a statement. "The
first come first serve principle means that if you do not apply on time, you
run the risk of not getting a ticket."
One
can apply for tickets via the FIFA website;
South African residents can also apply at any at FNB branch.
Of
the 64 World Cup matches, tickets for 11 are not available at this stage. These
matches include group stage games - England versus USA at the Royal Bafokeng
Stadium in Rustenburg; England versus Algeria at Green Point Stadium in Cape
Town; Slovenia versus England at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port
Elizabeth; and Portugal versus Brazil at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Tickets
for two Round of 16 matches - match 54 at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, and match
56 at Green Point in Cape Town - will also not be available.
However,
tickets for the rest of matches are: match 59, a quarterfinal at Green Point
Stadium in Cape Town; match 60, another quarterfinal match at Ellis Park
Stadium in Johannesburg; two semifinals at Green Point Stadium and at Durban
Stadium.
Tickets
for all matches in Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Polokwane and Tshwane/Pretoria
are available, as well as for matches in Port Elizabeth - except Slovenia
versus England - and Rustenburg - except England versus USA.
FIFA
assures fans that tickets for all matches will potentially be available at a
later stage as some tickets initially allocated to teams or commercial
partners, might be returned to the general public sales process.
Sold
So
far, two million of the three million tickets available for the tournament have
been sold since sales opened almost a year ago on 20 February 2009. These
ticket sales include those for tour operators and participating member
associations.
In
the third ticketing sales phase, which ended on 22 January, more than
1 206 865 tickets were requested in 192 countries by the general public.
Of this number, 585 175 tickets were drawn successfully, of which
413 072 were allocated to South African residents.
Outside
South Africa, the United States received the highest number of tickets drawn
(35 262), followed by the United Kingdom (21 614), Mexico (11 893), Australia
(11 804), Germany (9 692), Brazil (5 891), Canada (4 642), France (4 268) and
Israel (3 677).
In
Africa, neighbouring Botswana leads with a total of 1 587 tickets drawn,
followed closely by Mozambique with 1 142. Kenya completes the top three
African countries with 785 tickets.
With
regard to individual match tickets, category four - sold exclusively to South
African residents at a cost of R140 each - was the most popular and the final
received the highest number of applications. All applicants will be informed
via email or SMS by Monday, 8 February, whether their applications were
completely or partially successful.
In
January, FIFA announced that from 15 April, ticketing centres would open in
each of the host cities - with two in Johannesburg - where fans will be able to
buy tickets over the counter and also collect their confirmed tickets.
In
addition, ticketing call centres will open during the fourth sales phase. The
call centres - which will serve both local and international fans - will assist
people with queries and applications. The hotline for domestic customers is 083
123 2010 and for international customers is 00 41 44 583 2010.
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