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MOST of the cheapest World Cup tickets in Nelson Mandela Bay – reserved for South Africans – have already been sold.
Category 4 (R140) tickets are only still available for three of the eight matches to be played in the city.
These are for the first match at the stadium, between South Korea and Greece on June 12, the match between Chile and Switzerland on June 21, and the third-fourth playoff on July 10.
Fifa could not say how many tickets were still available for these matches last night.
The soccer body has also emphasised that rumours circulating that ticket prices will be dropped are not true.
“No! Prices will not at any stage go down. Fifa has from the beginning fixed prices, and that will not change,” said Fifa media officer Wolfgang Einchler.
Port Elizabeth remains one of only four host cities that still have Category 4 tickets available. The others are Nelspruit, Polokwane and Rustenburg.
Yesterday, the number of tickets sold rose only slightly from the 145000 sold in the first four days of the final phase of over-the-counter ticket sales.
Additional ticket sales points opened yesterday at 18 selected Shoprite/Checkers outlets across the country.
In Port Elizabeth, Shoprite in Greenacres and Cleary Park are the only selected stores.
Although no indication has been given of the exact number of tickets sold, organisers remained pleased with the turnout.
“There are still a number of tickets available for all the matches.
“There is not a single game, including the final, that we can say is completely sold out yet,” said Einchler.
After Fifa said that no more tickets were available for the match between England and Slovenia in the third and fourth phases of ticket sales, Fifa made available more tickets for the game.
“The reason why tickets for a game like the England and Slovenia encounter are available is that we may have received back tickets from some of the stakeholders and other ticket-buyers.
“Also because in each venue the final seating plans may change, and rows that were blocked for bad visibility may be made available, hence more tickets are made available for some of the games.
“This will continue right up until the last match of the tournament as some of the buyers who are hoping their teams will make it to the end may be disappointed and return their tickets.”
Only a few tickets remain available for the England-Slovenia match in Category 1 (R1120) and Category 2 (R840).
The most popular match at the moment is the encounter between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and African giants Ivory Coast, which only has Category 1 tickets available at a price of R1120.
Tickets are available in all categories for the June 12 game between South Korea and Greece, and in most for the June 18 encounter between Germany and Serbia. For the Germany-Serbia game, the second round match as well as the quarter-final match, tickets are available in Categories 1, 2, and 3 (R560). Tickets are also available in all the categories except in Category 2 for the third-fourth playoff.
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