Was I the last person on earth to find out that the 2010 World Cup tickets went on sale two weeks ago?
I guess that’s what I get for relying on blogs for my daily dose of news updates. Mea culpa.
Nonetheless since the tickets are not being allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis but rather by lottery selection, its not to late to apply for tickets!
Although the tickets are even available online (payable in USD), they dont come cheap: expect to pay between $80 (opening matches) and $900 (World cup finals) while South Africans will only be paying $20.
As for me, I’m saving my hard-earned cash for one or two games, semi-final games tend to be the most entertainment! (Trust me.)
However I still have several concerns. One the security situation and secondly the transport system. These two issues actually go hand in hand in South Africa because the transport system even within the various major cities, spread out across the Rainbow Nation, are not safe at all.
Enter the Gautrain. This high-speed commuter train will provide a desperately needed boost to the logistical and safety concerns many sceptics have raised about South Africa, a land that is five times larger than Great Britain and three times the size of Texas. Although truth be told, last time I was out in RSA (one year ago), there were still a number of World Cup stadium sites where no construction had begun so I guess we’ll have to see whether the Gautrain and the soccer stadiums will be completed on time.
But as you can tell from the picture, this post isnt about spreading doom and gloom. The single biggest sporting event in the world is coming to Africa!!! But it is important we give the world a show they will be soon to forget and silence all the critics. In this connection, perhaps our fellow South Africans could borrow a leaf or tree from the Chinese at last year’s Olympic Games, with their level of organisation, planning and attention to detail.
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