The World Cup 2010 will be held in South Africa this time around. It will be played at ten stadiums located in nine different regions of the country for a full month from June 11 to July 11. On the part of South Africa there is a massive effort to make the event a grand success. The country is doing its best to rally the whole continent behind the effort. The International Marketing Company of South (IMC) is spearheading the campaign. Paul Bannister, the Chief Executive of IMC is brimming with confidence that their efforts will bear fruits. A series of television advertisements have already started to stir up the interest of not only the South Africans alone, but also that of Africa as a whole. The Vuvuzela trumpet of South Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro of Kenya and the tribals of Giza, where the historic Egyptian Pyramids rest are among the features employed for these advertisements. They stress the point that the show belongs to Africa as a whole, not South Africa's alone.
Even though the first international football match was played in 1872 between England and Scotlahttp://www.addondashboard.com/submitarticles.phpnd, the first FIFA tournament was organized by the then FIFA president, Jules Rimet in 1930 in Uruguay. Only 13 teams participated. The low number was due to the reluctance of many European teams to travel such a long distance. The FIFA was formed only in 1904 and by that time football was included in Olympics. But Olympic football was always for the amateur players and the FIFA encouraged professional teams. The second World Cup tournament was held in 1934 in Italy with 16 teams participating and that format continued until 1982. In 1982 the number was doubled to 32 and that remains until today.
The present day 32 national teams are selected from over 200 teams all over the world. The selection process takes two years to complete before the final FIFA tournament. One interesting story behind the tournament is that South Americans always protested in the beginning the holding of the tournament outside their territory. Some of them have even boycotted the tournaments held in Europe.
South Africa goes into every detail to make the event flawless. One major factor they take very seriously is the hospitality side. All arrangements are in full swing already. The exclusive right is given to Match Hospitality. Their packages include ticket and on-site hospitality on match-days. They arrange preferential parking, entertainment during the match and even a gift to the guest. The facility called the Big Five Series enables you to watch all the matches in the five big stadiums where all the important matches are played. This facility is offered only in private suites. The Big Five Series does not include accommodation and travel.
Choose Your Game
The cities that will host World Cup games have been chosen and the match schedule is already set. In order to buy tickets, you'll need to know which games you want to attend. If you have a favorite country, then check to see who and where they'll be playing before applying for your tickets.
It can be a bit tricky to figure out which soccer games to see. With 64 rounds, there will be plenty of opportunity to pick and choose the games. There are limited tickets, however, and the application process doesn't guarantee that you will get to see the matches you most want. With over 1.6 million applicants in just the first round of ticket applications, it's no surprise that the competition to get the seats you want at the game you want is going to be harsh.
Pick a Match
The different matches have different prices. Residents of South Africa will be given superior discounts that equal less than the face value of the tickets.
Prices for the tickets are as follows, in US dollars.
Match 1 = $200-450
Matches 2-48 = $80-120
Matches 49-56 = $100-200
Matches 57-60 = $150-300
Matches 61-62 =$250-600
Match 63 = $150-300
Match 64 = $400-900
The prices vary with the seating. The better the seats, the higher the ticket price. However, the stadiums aren't all completed yet, so it isn't yet possible to choose a specific spot to sit, you can only choose an area.
Applying for Tickets
The process for purchasing a ticket to the World Cup is not that straightforward. Rather than simply buying the number of tickets you want, you need to apply instead. Some have likened it to a lottery. This is part of the reason why it pays to get your application in early. There are two application periods where people may specify their preference.
Where and When to Apply
You can enter the ballot for ticket purchase at any First National Branch within South Africa, or you can go to FIFA.com to apply online for your tickets. However, the first phase ended on March 31st, 2009 and the winners will be drawn on April 15th, 2009. After this, the second phase of applications will be open from May 4th, 2009 to November 16th, 2009.
Once the application phases are over, tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. This was done to gauge interest and also to help reduce the number of people in each area, since there are a huge number of people wanting to see specific team and most importantly, the final match. This is the most expensive World Cup ticket and also the most requested.
What to Do If You Don't Win
Not everyone is going to be able to grab a ticket in the application rounds. That doesn't mean you can't go, it just means that you will end up paying a much higher price. People who have won tickets will be auctioning them off to the highest bidder once ticket applications and sales have closed. This is how prices end up being so high and it tends to weed out those who aren't willing to pay huge amounts of money. However, you'll pay far less if you can get a ticket before they run out.
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