FIFA has announced that the World Cup finals in South Africa this summer will host fewer foreign visitors than initially projected. Even with this lower than anticipated demand, Secretary-General Jerome Valcke admitted there were also too few flights to cater for those who did want to travel. He also suggested some fans were concerned about safety, a concern probably augmented by the recent terrorist attack on the Togo team bus in Angola at the African Cup of Nations.
FIFA says it expects less than 450,000 foreign fans, well below the target number they had set for the first finals to be played in Africa. Most of the two million tickets sold so far have been to residents of South Africa. The USA remains the overseas country with most ticket purchases, followed by the UK, from which England are the sole qualifiers.
Mr Valcke told a news conference: “It is true that the PMAs [local football associations]find it currently difficult to sell the tickets due to limited flights available. Therefore we are now working together with the airlines to create extra flights and packages to help the PMAs to sell their tickets.”
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