2010 World Cup ticket nightmares
If you haven’t heard already, tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup are not going as well as planned, particularly with the overseas fans. FIFA has blasted England, and to some extent Germany, for putting fans off of travelling to South Africa.
I think FIFA has got it wrong (yet again), because England or Germany have not fostered a negative image of South Africa because the preconception about the security fears in South Africa were already there. Lets face it, people had or have a dodgy view of South Africa before the World Cup was even awarded and it might still be there after the World Cup.
South Africa is a beautiful country, no doubt. Most of us have seen the cricket, rugby and a little bit of football being played there and it looks beautiful, the people seem nice but we also know that the night-crimes are ridiculously high. People who have lived there, say that South Africa is a beautiful place and all but go to the wrong place and you will be in deep trouble. Then again, it is the case almost everywhere.
The second biggest reason in putting people off could be the traveling expenses. Cape Town is around 870 miles from Johannesburg and another 365 miles for Durban, plus around £2,000 for the tickets. But incidentally, England are the second highest contributor to ticket sales from overseas; second only to United States surprisingly.
For more on the topic, listen to the Episode 38 of the Soccerlens Podcast. You can also subscribe via iTunes or subscribe to Soccerlens Podcast feed.
Topics: England, Fans, Germany, South Africa, World Cup
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Yes you can be in trouble in the “wrong place” anywhere.
There the similarity ends , the “wrong” place in SA can be almost anywhere…also the level of brutal violence involved in the most minor of crimes is staggeringly high.
For women , the level of rape is off the scale.
If you just want to watch the soccer and are happy watching your back at every turn then go.
If you are looking to behave as you do on a holiday …go somewhere else.
January 30th, 2010 @ 02:02Hey Maurice, are you one of those disgruntled white racists that fled South Africa, and will do anything to try and pretend that crime was the *real* reason you left?
February 2nd, 2010 @ 19:21I am a white South African living in South Africa for the past 41 years of my life. Yes we have crime like the rest of the world. However there should be no reason not to visit this country as being portrait be various media around the world. We have some of the best tourist attractions, and nearly 9,9 million tourists visit this country annually. Our country know how to prepare for events like the world cup and we will wait for commnets after the event, the worl will realise that South Africa has what it takes and change the perseption of those who wrote all these negative comments.
March 5th, 2010 @ 08:03