AFP/Alexander Joeview photoJOHANNESBURG (AFP) - The Confederations Cup has drawn near-record South African TV viewers and packed stadiums at the most popular games, but gaps in the stands has prompted organisers to give away thousands of tickets.
The tournament kicked off amid concerns about slow tickets sales, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter criticising the local organisers for failing to fill the stands for the opening match on June 14.
AFP/Alexander Joeview photoSales were especially soft for matches played by teams not well known to local fans, with some unfolding before half empty stands -- most noticeable in the Spain-New Zealand game in Rustenburg, just two hours from Johannesburg.
The solution: give away the extra tickets.
Private companies and government agencies have purchased bulk batches to give away thousands of tickets.
Tickets had been specially priced to encourage locals to attend. At Wednesday's semi-final when the United States bested Spain 2-0, the cheapest seats were 140 rands (17 dollars).
But in a country where 43 percent of the population live on less than two dollars a day, even that price is steep.
Moses Ntsizi, a janitor who earns 1,300 rands a month, lucked out by receiving a free ticket from his employer to see Wednesday's match in Bloemfontein.
"My dream has come true. I can see Spain playing," he said during the match. "I can see their method. They do not panic when they have the ball."
Ntsizi says he regularly watches the Bloemfontein Celtics, but those tickets cost only 20 rands.
Others in the crowd said they received free tickets from the city government, but many have turned to TV parks where big screens have been set up to allow the public to watch the games for free.
"I did not have the money to go to the stadium. But I enjoy the big screen," said 18-year-old orphan Diteboho Lefeta, who despite the cold weather came to a tent set up by the city to watch the game with others from his orphanage.
FIFA's ticketing system drew criticism ahead of the June 14-28 tournament for focusing on online sales in a country where Internet access remains a luxury.
Tickets could also be bought from a bank, but getting to the branches also posed a problem due to the lack of public transportation.
The policy was later relaxed and ticketing kiosks were rolled out in the four host cities.
Organisers say they are happy overall, and television audiences for games that South Africa played in were near record size, according to FIFA.
The Bafana Bafana match against New Zealand on June 17 attracted over six million viewers, not counting fans at the TV parks or other public spaces, according to FIFA.
That's lower than the 10 to 12 million Germans who watched their team play on TV when they hosted the last Confed Cup. But officials point out that Germany's population is larger and almost every home has a television. Not all South Africans even have electricity.
"The figures compare well considering difference in population," FIFA television broadcast director, Niklas Ericson told reporters.
Rich Mkhondo, spokesman for the organising committee, said South Africa had done its best to publicise the games and make them accessible to the public.
"The organisation of the tournament cannot be judged by a couple of games which did not attract maximum crowds. Attendance has been very impressive at most of the games," said Mkhondo.
Comment 1 - 1 of 1
I have a few bones to pick with you Yahoo! Sport and some points of clarification to make with regards to your report.
Firstly, I hope that is not the adolescent's real name that you used for the 18 year old orphan. I work for a childcare organization in South Africa and the general policy around the disclosure of identities of children in such institutions is that only one of the following should be used when referring to them in the media; first name, last name, face (picture) or the institution they are in. At least this is our policy in our organization (roughly interpreted), which I assume is the general policy in this type of work.
The second issue is that it is not the distance to the bank branches that is the problem with purchasing FIFA tickets. It is the unpreparedness of the banks and FIFA to handle applications. I put in two applications for my Confed tickets. I am still waiting for the bank application to be approved or to be given feedback as to whether my application was successful or not. I then tried to get either my tickets or my money back since my credit card Internet application had deducted money from my account. To do this I had to call their ticketing centre, whose services are only voice prompts. To find out if my application was successful I needed to have a reference number, which I was supposed to have received from FIFA, which I did not. So I could not find out if my tickets were ready or if at all I had tickets. So, I went to the bank. They did not know what I should do. The bank called FIFA (using a number not given to the public) and was told that even though I had proof that I had purchased my tickets, they could not help me because I did not have a reference number. Their solution, I should get a reference number.
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