SA World Cup tickets go on sale

Tickets for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa have gone on sale as Africa prepares to host the contest for the first time.

• Around 3m tickets are available for the 64 matches, which start in June 2010.
• In the first sales phase, applications for tickets will be followed by a random selection draw in April.
• Some 450,000 cheaper tickets are being reserved for South African residents of which 120,000 will be issued free to stadium construction workers.
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• Overall prices range from $20 (£14) for a category four ticket reserved for South Africans to $900 for a category one ticket for the final.
• “I’m really going to watch… It’s a little bit expensive but, you know, I think it’s worth it,” one man in Johannesburg told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.
• Although the tournament does not begin for 475 days, there is already huge excitement about the competition in Africa, says BBC southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles in Johannesburg.
• Ever since South Africa was awarded the football World Cup, questions have been asked about whether the country is capable of staging a successful tournament, says our correspondent.
• This week, about 400 builders working on the construction of Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit were dismissed for going on strike.
• Similar disputes have previously broken out at stadiums in Durban and Cape Town, but World Cup organisers say they are confident those projects will be completed by on time.
• Ten stadiums in nine cities will play host to the tournament.
• Airports are also being upgraded, policing will be improved and a media campaign is encouraging South Africans to think positively about the tournament.
• Danny Jordan, the chief executive of South Africa’s World Cup Organising Committee, says security should not be a concern despite the country’s crime rate.
• “When you organise an event, you have maximum information” about the teams’ movements, he told the BBC.
• “You know where the fans are going to stay, you know when they are going to the match, you know when and where they’re going to celebrate.
• “So, if I have 100% information on your movement, I can give you the guarantee that you will be 100% safe.”
• At least 400,000 visitors are expected in South Africa next year.
• Fifa has said it hopes every single match will be sold out.
• The draw for the 32 teams that qualify for the World Cup will be held in Cape Town in December 2009.