Fifa release 164,000 more World Cup 2010 tickets for general sale

Posted Thursday, May 27, 2010 by theguardian.com

• New batch made available two weeks before World Cup
• Fifa 'very pleased' with number of tickets sold

Football's world governing body, Fifa, have made another batch of 164,000 World Cup tickets available. The tickets will go on public sale this Friday, two weeks before the start of the tournament.

Speaking at the official handover of the Green Point Stadium by the City of Cape Town to Fifa, secretary general Jerome Valcke, said: "These tickets are because we have a lot of buffers. Myself, I have thousands of tickets to accommodate a number of requests. We will put back these tickets into the public system. It will be the final time that we are making such announcement.

"It's a quite large number of tickets from game one to 64. They become available on Friday morning, all the tickets, and then it's over."

Initial estimates suggest that South Africans have bought 1.3 million tickets, with this number boosted by the final sales phase which began on 15 April.

Valcke said: "We are very pleased with the final result. We were a bit concerned a few months ago, now we are definitely pleased."

There was also high praise for the pitch at the 68,000-seater stadium. He added: "It's definitely the best pitch we have during all this World Cup, if you compare with all the other stadiums. I'm sorry for the other stadiums, but it's a fact."

Meanwhile, Australia will be the first of the 32 finalists to arrive in the host country when they touch down in Johannesburg this evening. They will be followed by five-time world champions Brazil 24 hours later, while Denmark and Argentina are expected to land on Saturday.

According to Fifa, England will arrive on 3 June with the defending champions, Italy, due to arrive six days later. Spain are the last team expected in South Africa with their arrival date 11 June – the day the tournament kicks off.

Valcke added: "With the arrival of teams, the Fifa World Cup becomes real. This marks a very special moment because we have provided the stage, now the players take the spotlight and that is what the Fifa World Cup is about.

"The focus will now shift to the excitement around the teams and the build-up to the games. The teams will certainly have a wonderful time in this country and be part of the African spirit while playing in world-class facilities."