Online 2010 World Cup tickets sell like hot buns

ONLINE ticket sales for the 2010 FIFA World Cup scheduled for South Africa has got off to a flying start.

Only five hours after the tickets went on sale online on Friday at the official FIFA website, there were 60 000 applications.

Officials said the figures exceeded expectations.

“There were 60,000 online ticket applications within the first 5 hours, approximately 200 applications per minute, via the official website FIFA.com. This exceeded the expectations of FIFA, the Organising Committee and its servicing Partner Match. Furthermore, the hard paper application process in the FNB branches across the host country was very successful with thousands of South African residents collecting the hard paper application forms,” said FIFA media officer Delia Fischer.

“This is yet another indication of the attractiveness of the FIFA World Cup and it shows the strong confidence of the football community in South Africa’s capabilities to stage a fantastic World Cup in 2010.”

South Africa will in 2010 host the global showcase, the first African country to do so.

Tickets for the month-long tourney are sold on first-come-first-served basis”.

All applicants who register correctly by the end of the first sales period on 31 March 2009 will have an equal opportunity to obtain tickets, as this sales phase is not on a first come, first served basis. A random draw will be conducted on 15 April to determine which applicants receive tickets for oversubscribed matches,” Fischer explained.

Mthulisi Sibanda