Johannesburg - Hundreds of soccer fans have joined long queues at FIFA ticketing centres to secure their opportunity to get their hands on last minute 2010 tickets.
At the FIFA Ticketing Centre in Sandton, some soccer enthusiasts started queuing from last night with others joining early this morning.
The atmosphere is abuzz with excitement and one can easily mistake the scene as a soccer pitch with some fans wearing their Bafana Bafana jerseys and blowing their vuvuzelas.
FIFA has made available more than 500 000 tickets for the 63 matches on a first come first served basis, which fans can purchase over-the-counter, at ticketing centres.
Eleven Ticketing Centres will start operating from 9am South African time, this morning. They will operate seven days a week from 9am to 6pm. As from today, five different sales channels will be in operation.
In Limpopo the Ticketing Centre is at Lifestyle Mall in Polokwane; in Cape Town at the Spearhead; in Durban at Sun Coast Casino and Gateway Shopping Centre; in Johannesburg at Maponya Mall in Soweto and Laico Isle in Sandton; Loch Logan Waterfront Mall in Bloemfontein; Moffet on Main Lifestyle Centre in Port Elizabeth; The Groove Shopping Centre in Nelspruit; Waterfall Mall in Rustenburg and Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria.
The process to obtain a ticket is simple - fans can just walk into a ticketing centre with cash, credit or debit cards and buy tickets over- the-counter or from vending machines.
The vending machines, which take only credit and ticket purchase cards, give customers step-by-step instructions on how to buy tickets, which will then be printed out.
The second method of purchasing tickets can be done at the 600 FNB branches nationwide which are open five days a week from 9am on 15 April. The process is new and fans can order tickets, make payment and get ticket confirmation immediately; the actual tickets need to be collected at the FIFA ticketing centres or Shoprite/Checkers sales points.
Tickets can also be purchased through FIFA's official website, FIFA.com, from 6pm as well as through the Call Centre Hotline on 083 123 2010 for South African residents or 0041445832010 for international residents.
Eighteen Shoprite/Checkers sales points will also be open seven days a week from 9am on April 19 - in Johannesburg at the Checkers Hyper - Sandton, Checkers Hyper - Westgate, Checkers Hyper - Eastgate and in Pretoria at Checkers Hyper - Menlyn.
In Durban at Checkers Hyper - Westville, Checkers - Hillcrest, Shoprite - Chatsworth; in Cape Town at Century City, Checkers - Plumstead; in Bloemfontein at Checkers - Langehovenpark and Shoprite - Heidedal.
In Port Elizabeth at the Shoprite - Redhouse, Shoprite - Newton Park; in Rustenburg at Shoprite - Mogwase, Shoprite - Brits; in Polokwane at Shoprite - Tzaneen; in Nelspruit at Shoprite - Nelspruit and Shoprite - White River.
Fans will need to bring an ID, a credit card or cash when applying at the ticketing centres.
