Ticket the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Ticket categories and prices


The prices and categories for tickets for ™, as elaborated by the ticketing sub-committee set up jointly by FIFA and the South African local organising committee (LOC), were approved by the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup, under the chairmanship of FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou, at its meeting in Durban today.

Overall, the ticket prices for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ are comparable to 2006 prices with an average of USD 139 per ticket compared with USD 136 (adjusted for EUR to USD exchange rate conversion) in 2006. The ticketing proposal was elaborated jointly by FIFA and the South African LOC. The prices (cf. separate list), which range from USD 20 for a category 4 ticket for a group stage match to USD 900 for a category 1 ticket for the final, reflect FIFA’s positioning of the FIFA World Cup™ as a premium international sporting event, yet also take account of the South African market. In 2006, the cheapest ticket cost EUR 35 (approximately USD 51).

Category 4 tickets are to make up some 15% of the total inventory of an estimated 3 million purchasable tickets and will be sold exclusively to those living in South Africa. With these tickets, FIFA and the LOC intend to enable South African residents on low incomes to attend matches.

As well as being a premiere in terms of its setting on the African continent, the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ will also mark a first with a FIFA-initiated ticket fund consisting of tickets that will be distributed on a complimentary basis.

As part of the overall ticketing operation, 120,000 category 4 tickets will be allocated to this ticket fund, which will offer them on a complimentary basis to fans in South Africa so that they can witness the world’s largest single-sport event at first hand. The ticket fund will consist of a certain number of tickets for all matches, from the opening game right up to the final.

The tickets will be distributed free of charge by FIFA, the South African LOC and FIFA Partners adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai/KIA, SONY and VISA to South African residents through a special programme that will form part of a social responsibility initiative and act as a “catalyst" for sustainable change.
David Will, the chairman of the ticketing sub-committee, expressed his satisfaction with the overall ticketing strategy: “Together with the South African local organising committee, not only have we managed to provide a low-price category and a well-balanced price range but also to innovate by creating a special ticket fund. These arrangements take account of the importance of the FIFA World Cup and cater at the same time for the needs of fans in South Africa.”

Local organising committee CEO Dr Danny Jordaan echoed these sentiments: “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.”

Tickets will go on sale in several phases, starting around the beginning of February 2009. As in the past, tickets that are not be bought by various stakeholders such as FIFA member associations will subsequently be put on sale to the general public.

The 32 participating member associations will be offered 12% of the purchasable tickets for each of their matches (previously 8%) in the group phase and an average of 8% in the knockout phases. While category 4 tickets will be sold exclusively to South African residents, tickets in categories 1, 2 and 3 will be sold on a worldwide basis, both on the international and domestic South African market. The ticket distribution system will be finalised at a later stage, with the internet playing a major but not an exclusive role. All transactions involving tickets in categories 1-3 will be payable in US dollars, those in category 4 in South African rand.

Ticketing prices for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™

All prices below are in USD. Category 4 is reserved to South African residents and will be solved exclusively in ZAR.