Johannesburg - South Africans have been granted the bulk of tickets issued after the first phase draw for the 2010 World Cup, international soccer body FIFA said on Thursday.
"Out of the total of 1,862,319 tickets requested from 205 countries, 555 871 tickets were drawn successfully.
"Of those, 245,948 tickets were drawn to South African residents - this corresponds to 44 percent of all tickets successfully drawn during this first phase of ticket sales."
The random selection draw, completed by a computer program, took place on Wednesday over a period of two hours at the UK offices of MATCH Services, the company involved in ticketing for the cup.
Besides South Africa, the highest number - 69 208 tickets - went to United States residents.
United Kingdom soccer lovers picked up 39 421 tickets and German football fans received 29 330 tickets.
"From the applications received, the most popular team was England, for which a total of 228 822 team-specific tickets (TST) were requested"
However the total number of available TSTS for England was 8895.
The most popular individual match category ticket was category four.
"The most heavily oversubscribed match was the final, by a factor of 3000 per cent," said FIFA.
The draw was conducted in the presence of a public notary.
Each applicant was able to apply for a maximum of four tickets per match and for a maximum of seven matches. A check to ensure no multiple applications went through during the draw was done.
David Will, FIFA Honorary Vice-President and chairman of the FIFA Ticketing Sub-Committee, said the electronic random selection draw ensured the whole procedure remained fair.
"We would have liked to please even more football fans at this stage, but there will be other ticket sales phases," he said.
Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan said he was happy to see that many South Africans had secured tickets.
"Of course we will continue to encourage all other South Africans as well as fellow Africans to apply for their tickets during the second phase so as not to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience."
Until the end of April applicants will be informed via sms or email as to whether or not they were successful.
South African applicants who do not hear anything by the end of the month should contact the ticketing centre at enquiries@2010FWCTC.co.za, or 083-1232010.
FIFA said the second ticket phase would begin on May 4 and remain open until November 16.
"During this second sales phase, tickets will be allocated on a "first come, first served, subject to availability" basis"
These tickets will then be ready for collection at ticketing centres by April 2010.
In the meantime, FIFA said over 300 000 tickets had been requested for the 2009 Confederations Cup, accounting for nearly half of the tickets available for the event.
"Out of the total of 1,862,319 tickets requested from 205 countries, 555 871 tickets were drawn successfully.
"Of those, 245,948 tickets were drawn to South African residents - this corresponds to 44 percent of all tickets successfully drawn during this first phase of ticket sales."
The random selection draw, completed by a computer program, took place on Wednesday over a period of two hours at the UK offices of MATCH Services, the company involved in ticketing for the cup.
Besides South Africa, the highest number - 69 208 tickets - went to United States residents.
United Kingdom soccer lovers picked up 39 421 tickets and German football fans received 29 330 tickets.
"From the applications received, the most popular team was England, for which a total of 228 822 team-specific tickets (TST) were requested"
However the total number of available TSTS for England was 8895.
The most popular individual match category ticket was category four.
"The most heavily oversubscribed match was the final, by a factor of 3000 per cent," said FIFA.
The draw was conducted in the presence of a public notary.
Each applicant was able to apply for a maximum of four tickets per match and for a maximum of seven matches. A check to ensure no multiple applications went through during the draw was done.
David Will, FIFA Honorary Vice-President and chairman of the FIFA Ticketing Sub-Committee, said the electronic random selection draw ensured the whole procedure remained fair.
"We would have liked to please even more football fans at this stage, but there will be other ticket sales phases," he said.
Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan said he was happy to see that many South Africans had secured tickets.
"Of course we will continue to encourage all other South Africans as well as fellow Africans to apply for their tickets during the second phase so as not to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience."
Until the end of April applicants will be informed via sms or email as to whether or not they were successful.
South African applicants who do not hear anything by the end of the month should contact the ticketing centre at enquiries@2010FWCTC.co.za, or 083-1232010.
FIFA said the second ticket phase would begin on May 4 and remain open until November 16.
"During this second sales phase, tickets will be allocated on a "first come, first served, subject to availability" basis"
These tickets will then be ready for collection at ticketing centres by April 2010.
In the meantime, FIFA said over 300 000 tickets had been requested for the 2009 Confederations Cup, accounting for nearly half of the tickets available for the event.