Free tickets
June 17, 2009
Aside from a near capacity crowd for the opening game between South Africa and Iraq in Johannesburg, thousands of seats have remained empty for other matches in Rustenburg, Pretoria and Bloemfontein. This has prompted FIFA to start giving away free tickets.
"There will be a number of complimentary tickets actually handed to institutions," said FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot Wednesday. "(These are) institutions which have been very supportive of the event."
Maingot did not say exactly how many tickets would be given away, but added FIFA would work together with charitable organizations and local authorities to distribute the tickets. The free tickets will be for certain games in the group stage, which runs through Sunday.
Talk of giving away tickets began Monday when FIFA president Joseph Blatter expressed disappointment over the empty seats he was seeing in the stadiums.
"We were not happy with the number of people in attendance on the opening match day," Blatter said.
Ticket prices may be too high
Organizers insist that all efforts have been made to get the word out to the South African people and encourage them to come to the games.
"You can take the horse to the water but you can't force it to drink the water," said Rich Mkhondo, spokesman for the World Cup local organizing committee.
One reason for the empty seats for the Confederations Cup may be the price of the tickets. The cheapest tickets are priced at 70 South African rand, which is about $8.70 (6.30 euros) and considerably more than what the average South African worker earns in a day. On Monday, FIFA head Blatter said letting some people in for free would not cause a problem.
"They need to bring in people even if they cannot afford tickets," said Blatter. "The young and poor can be brought into the stadium. Nobody will be offended by that."
The Confederations Cup is considered a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, which South Africa is scheduled to host next year. Aside from the attendance problems, FIFA has said it is pleased with the tournament so far.
mz/AP/dpa/reuters