100,000 World Cup tickets sold in 1st day of final phase

100,000 World Cup tickets sold in one day

JOHANNESBURG — FIFA announced Friday that 100,000 World Cup tickets were sold in the first 24 hours of the final phase and 29 of the 64 matches are now sold out, but a number of less popular matchups still have unsold tickets in all four pricing categories.

FIFA ticketing subcommittee chairman Horst Schmidt said there were no more seats available for the final, both semifinals and the opening game between host South Africa and Mexico at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium on June 11.

All matches in the coastal cities of Cape Town and Durban are also sold out.

“We are very pleased with the interest and with the latest figures,” Schmidt said.

FIFA said that as of Friday morning, the second day of the final phase, tickets were still available for one quarterfinal and the third and fourth playoff, as well as a selection of last 16 and group games.

But some less popular matches, like South Korea versus Greece at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth and Paraguay versus New Zealand in the northern city of Polokwane, are yet to sell out tickets in any of the four categories of seats.

Seven matches still have unsold tickets in all four ticket categories, including the lowest priced one for locals.

Another eight games have only sold out the cheapest tickets.

FIFA did not say how many tickets had been sold in each category, only that some were “available”, some had “few tickets” and some were “unavailable”.

Local organizers have said they will ensure that all World Cup games are full to avoid shots of empty seats on international broadcasts.

As a result, they may be forced to give away free tickets to schools or charities which could have an impact on the economic benefit of the World Cup for the local committee, which is counting for much of its revenue from ticket sales.

The estimated $3.3 billion that the World Cup makes from commercial rights and marketing goes to FIFA.

FIFA and the local organizing committee have previously acknowledged worries over certain “low interest” games where tickets are not selling.

Foreign ticket sales, particularly in Europe, have also been disappointing. Fewer than 350,000 people are now expected to travel to the country for Africa’s first World Cup, down from initial estimates of 450,000.

Thursday’s launch of the final ticket batch, where fans in South Africa could finally buy over the counter for the first time, was hit by technical problems with the ticketing systems.

FIFA’s ticketing partner, Match, said the computer crashes were caused by “high demand”. Police were called to at least three centers to calm angry fans who faced lengthy delays.

Supporters are now able to make purchases at 11 ticket centers and a network of 600 bank branches. Supermarkets across South Africa will start selling World Cup tickets Monday.

FIFA has been criticized for waiting so long to simplify the process for local fans who, because of a combination of low income levels and unfamiliarity with buying on the Internet, had not taken to the organizers’ initial online plans.

Organizers had 500,000 of the total 2.7 million tickets left at the start of the fifth phase.