27 May 2010

Football fans hoping to watch a 2010 Fifa World Cup™ match live have been given a "last chance for glory". From 9am South African time on 28 May, around 90 000 additional tickets across all 64 matches – including the final, the opening game and the two semi-finals – will become available for public sale.

In total, there are still about 160 000 tickets still available for the public via:

• The official tournament website www.fifa.com.
• The World Cup call centre hotline, open seven days a week from 8am to 10pm: 083 123 2010 (from within South Africa) or 0041445832010 (international).
• 11 ticketing centres across South Africa's nine host cities, open seven days a week from 9am to 6pm. Fans will have to show an ID document. Check the ticketing centre locations.
• 18 Shoprite/Checkers sales points, open seven days a week. Fans will have to show an ID document. Check the sales point locations.
• About 600 FNB branches across South Africa, open five days a week. Here, fans can order tickets, make payment and get ticket confirmation immediately. However, the actual tickets will need to be collected either from one of the 11 Fifa ticketing centres or from one of the 18 Shoprite/Checkers sales points.

Of the total tickets still available, 34 000 are in category 4 (the most affordable, reserved for South African residents only), 28 000 in category 3, 23 000 in category 2, and 75 000 in category 1.

• Fans can check up on Fifa.com's constantly updating ticket availability chart

"For the final there are only about 800 tickets left, but for other matches it's up to a few thousands", Fifa secretary-general Jérôme Valcke said in a statement on Thursday.

So far, 96% of the total of 2.88-million purchasable tickets for the World Cup have been sold.

"The target is to reach about 97% or 98%, which would correspond with the figures from the past Fifa World Cups, and this would make us very happy," Valcke said.

According to Fifa, the additional 90 000 tickets become available for public sale following the finalisation of seating arrangements at the 10 match venues, and after adjustments to the various ticket allocations.

"One thing is clear," said Danny Jordaan, CEO of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa: "This is the last big inventory [of tickets] available for the public."

SAinfo reporter