SA: 170,000 tickets sold for Confer Cup

  1. Posted on Thursday 5 March 2009 - 10:40
    Sam Banda Junior
    Image of Sam Banda Junior
    Sam Banda Junior, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi Photo: Ms South Africa, Tansey Coetzee
    South Africa which will be the first country in the African continent to host the World Cup in 2010 is reported to have sold about 170,000 tickets for the incoming Confederations cup in June. This will be the first test as the country looks ahead to the world's football fiesta in 2010.
    Confederation cup
    The Confederations cup to take place from 14-28 June will feature top countries among them Africa Cup of Nations winners Egypt, European champions Spain, Brazil and Italy.

    Eight teams are expected to participate in this mini event with South Africa participating as the host. The southern African country recently started selling World Cup tickets however analysts advised the country to market itself so as to sell more tickets.

    A Reuters report quoted the country’s cabinet spokesman Themba Maseko as saying the country needs to allocate more funds and boost marketing to promote the 2010 World Cup among South Africans.

    This came amidst criticism from world football governing body FIFA, which fears stadiums for the prestigious tournament and the scene-setting 2009 Confederations Cup would lack adequate local support.

    "My reading of the situation at this stage is that we are not putting enough resources for marketing these two important events to South Africans," said Maseko.

    In January the media in the country reported that South Africans have the habit of shunning live games preferring to watch them over a beer in pubs and organizers expressed concerns that stadiums would not be full.

    Maseko observed that for them to succeed in this cause it was not only a question of money but rather proper planning and coordination. He also observed that major sponsors of the World Cup were not doing enough to promote the tournament.

    Zambia’s Football Association president Kalusha Bwalya said in January that South Africa needed to work tirelessly to host the World Cup successfully in order for the event to earn entry to more African countries.

    A Reuters report quoted FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke criticizing South Africa's lackluster approach, saying he had not seen a "single promotion" for the two tournaments.

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