SA: One dies in WC 2010 ticket scramble

  1. Posted on Thursday 15 April 2010 - 09:30
    accreporter
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    Kent Mensah, AfricaNews editor in Accra, Ghana
    A pensioner died while thousands of people remained in long queues all night long across South Africa as the World Cup 2010 tickets go on sale across the counter. About 500, 000 soccer tickets are available for grabs with cash for the first time to entice citizens to fill up the stadiums.
    South Africans celebrate World Cup Photo: Lameck
    According to Reuters report, local police said the 64-year-old man suffered an apparent seizure as he waited in a queue in central Cape Town. He was number 565 in the line. The Cape Town queue, like others around the country, began on Wednesday afternoon as South Africans rushed to get World Cup tickets, some of them for the final on July 11.

    Soccer loving people dressed in the South African national team colours where seen patiently in the snake-like queues armed with their vuvuzelas - the noisy trumpets which are a fixture of South African matches.

    Around 120,000 of the tickets are available to South Africans for $20, the lowest price at a World Cup for many years, Reuters noted.

    "The last time I waited in a line like this was when I voted for Mandela," said one man who did not want to give his name because he was skipping work to stand in line, according to a BBC report.

    Many South Africans had complained the original process, by which tickets were sold through Fifa's website or in a complicated ballot at a local bank branch, excluded people without web access, credit cards or the disposable income to pay for their tickets months in advance.

    "We are excited about these new initiatives, which make the process much easier for everyone," commented World Cup 2010 boss Danny Jordaan.

    "We have always said that it is important that we make this World Cup more accessible to the people and with over the counter sales, we believe this measure is consistent with the needs of the fans."

    The global football fiesta kicks off from June 11 to July 11.

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