FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke announced in Johannesburg, on Thursday that 2.24 million tickets have been sold for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Danny Jordaan Chief executive of Local organising committee (LOC) also announced that more tickets will be available at a cheaper price for South Africans by re-categorising tickets from 11% to 29%.

“Football fans in South Africa are working class people of low income,” he said.

“Had we not moved the percentage of tickets in category four to 29 percent, a lot of South Africans would not have afforded the tickets.

“The idea is to make the World Cup affordable.”

Jordaan also added that the cheaper tickets will only be availible to South Africans and no other people from other nationalities will be able to get into the stadiums with this price.

The tickets cost $17 (R135) for a group match and $100 (R785) for a ticket to the final.

FIFA announced that supporters entering the stadiums must have there passports and tickets available and that the name on the passport along with the nationality must match with the ticket of the supporter.

This procedure has been explained to both, staff at the world cup stadiums in South Africa and the South African police.

FIFA also warned that supporters that purchase tickets from unofficial website may risk the chance of being turned away from the stadiums as many websites obtain tickets from South African citizens at a cheaper price and pass these tickets over.

FIFA’s official website wrote, FIFA will not be kept responsible for any supporters not being entered into the stadiums due to illegal tickets. We urge all football fans going to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa to purchase tickets from FIFA’s official website or PTO’s (Participating Tour Operators) in your designated country.

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