As excitement builds about the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the question many people are asking is how they can get match tickets, and how much they will cost.

Tickets will go on sale from February 2009 in several phases. There will be four categories of tickets, and South Africans will have exclusive access to the cheapest of these.

Category one, two and three tickets will be sold locally and internationally, in dollars, while category four tickets will only be sold locally to South African residents, in rands.

For those who cannot afford or obtain tickets, especially those matches involving the top teams, there will be specially created fan parks – public places where people can gather to watch matches on large screens, and enjoy the large crowd atmosphere.

FIFA has outlined the prices of the tickets – see table below. The average cost is $139 (R973). This compares favourably to the 2006 average of $136. The cheapest tickets (category four) will be $20 (R140), while the most expensive category one tickets, for the final, will cost $900 (R6 300). FIFA has used an exchange rate of R7 to the US dollar to calculate the prices, although this may fluctuate ahead of the World Cup.

Category four tickets will make up some 15% of the total of the three million purchasable tickets (nation-wide), and are priced so that South African residents on low incomes can afford them.

“All South Africans contributed to bringing the FIFA World Cup™ to our country. So it is only befitting that we make tickets available to the ordinary fans at affordable prices,” said Local Organising Committee CEO Dr Danny Jordaan.

The 32 participating FIFA member nations are offered 12 percent of the event’s purchasable tickets for each of their matches in the group phase, and an average of eight percent in the knockout phases. Tickets that are not bought by these member associations will be put on sale to the general public.

About 120 000 complimentary tickets have also been set aside. These will go to sponsors and commercial partners, as well as the construction workers who were involved in building stadiums and roads for the World Cup.

Commercial partners will hold competitions in which members of the public can win tickets.

To ensure that tickets are not all snapped up by those who apply first, there will be restrictions in place, such as limiting the number of tickets to four for each household for each match, up to a limit of seven matches.

The ticket distribution system will be finalised closer to the time, with the internet expected to play an important, but not exclusive, role. Applications for tickets can also be made at a number of outlets such as official tour operators.

Tickets for the Confederations Cup, which runs from 14-28 June 2009, will go on sale on 23 November 2008.

Ticket prices for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, in US dollars:

Match	Cat. 1	Cat. 2	Cat. 3	Cat. 4
1	450	300	200	70
2 - 48	160	120	80	20
49 - 56	200	150	100	50
57 - 60	300	200	150	75
61 - 62	600	400	250	100
63	300	200	150	75
64	900	600	400	150