Read today that the Bloemfontein municipality have bought
50 000 tickets to 'share them amongst the citizens'. This is where the problem lies. These
tickets are not being sold to revenue-producing overseas tourists-guess who the above-mentioned 'citizens' are? Unfortunately not 2 cents to rub between them....
So, while 84 900 odd tickets sold in the UK may sound nice, 50 000 tickets going to fans as freebies(in
one district) kind of puts that into perspective.
Also large corporations have been 'pressured' into buying huge amounts of tickets which they`ll give away. To? Yep,socially acceptable/politically correct groups.Yes a few will go to customers etc but a big proportion to the 'masses'. Don`nt get me wrong,one of the great things about football is the way it crosses all social divides but don`t confuse announcements of how many tickets have been sold with the reality of quality footie fans the country will see coming over to SA. According to various news articles
they are
giving these tickets away
by the thousand-all in the name of that age-old African bad habit-IMAGE. The
stadiums must be full,and be seen to be full!
All in my humble opinion of course
.