soccer

JFA concerned about World Cup ticket sales

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Hi I am an Australian living in Johannesburg for the past 2 and 1/2 years. I have colleagues from Canada, England and US as well as family and friends all who have a "PERCEPTION" that SA is a crime ridden, lawless society and they will be robbed, hijacked or raped if they walk outside their doors.

The reality is that the majority of people are friendly law abiding citizens. The climate is stunning, the opportunities for travel are world class as are most of the facilities. I have been bush walking, game drives, surfing, white water rafting and played lots of golf on stunning stunning golf courses. I have cycled in one of the largest public races in the world.

Is it risk free here. NO it is not, but I have my wife, son and daughter here, and SA has a lot ot offer. For world cup we have brought tickets to the 3 Australian group games, Germany in Durban, Serbia in Nelspruit and Ghana in Rustenburg. WE will be driving to all the games on very good freeway and toll ways. Staying at friendly B&B's along the way. The only downside is I wont have time to go trout fishing in Dulstroom on the way back from Nelspruit.

My advice, is get some tickets and come and support your teams. It is going to be great. Aussies through to 2nd round and this time will beat Italy without biased referees and bad decisions.

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Reona: I'm coloured to and stunned(!) by you. No wonder the world is in such a mess. How far do you walk in a day?

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Off topic but it's irrelevant how good south Africa is at football. They're as worthy hosts as the US was in 1994 and look how popular 'soccer' is in the states now. Also, whilst south Africa may be good at rugby but i'd be stunned if more people play and watch rugby compared with how many play and watch football.

Of course none of this answers why the Japanese fans are not going to South Africa but that's already been done above. Sorry Reona, I have no doubts that South Africa is a stunningly beautiful country but the perception is that it's a dangerous country and it may take a violence free world cup to prove that to the rest of the world.

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@ Reona: thanks for the information. I am sure South Africans will throw a fantastic popular party.

If all the tickets aren't sold FIFA will still want the stadiums to look full on TV so maybe they'll let local people attend at much reduced prices.

FIFA has had this plan since SA got the hosting rights. They didn't sell to the locals first because they wanted to avoid the tickets-merchants who buy cheap and sell high. Right now, a ticket is being sold for locals for US$40 - not that cheap for the average SAn, but affordable anyway.

Also, I don't know why FIFA chose South Arica - soccer is not played at a good level there - we all know rugby is their sport. The country is not a happy place, unfortunately.

The same could be said about 2002 Korea-Japan. But you saw how soccer became popular here and in Korea (to the point of both countries bidding for 2018 and 2022 World Cups again - expect some heart attacks on Dec 2). And South Africa has always had one or more representants in WC biddings - they're persistent and Africa deserves to host this huge popular party.

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But on a lighter note, Durban is the city that I live in - Google it, it has the most breathtaking tourist spots in the world. We have gorgeous beaches and exciting awesome stuff to do. We have the BEST weather all year round & the best Soccer Stadium in South Africa. So if you're considering coming to South Africa, I'd advise you to stop reading stuff on the net (Japan according to the net is a place you never eat in because you get serve all kinds of pets & animals) - I'm intellegent enough to use my own discretion. Try websites like: www.beachandbush.co.za or www.wheretostay.co.za. Hope this clears up a few issues.

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I'm a "Coloured" (mixed race) woman & can safely say that I've never ever had a racist experience in my life. I have friends that are White, Black, Coloured, Chinese, Japense & Indian. Yes we have AN ABSOLOUTE IDIOT of a politian called Julius Malema that absoloutely everyone hates - who has no control over his mouth and says the most stupid things "BUT" kill the boer - seriously! That is an old apartheid song from way back when white racial people were in power. It's not an instruction - it's just that idiots way of looking for CONSTANT media coverage. I was on holdiay last week and visited a few cities in South Africa and there were many many tourist here - the highest being Asian's (smiling ones, lol).

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Hey guys apolgies in advance for my very long comment - thought I'd shed some light on the recent "comments". I'm a female South African in my mid 20's and I've been born and raised in South Africa. Yes there is crime in South Africa as with any other country - to be honest - I actually think the USA has more crime than South Africa. I've never ever had anything bad or crime related issues happen to me or my family members. Like many places there are areas that you avoid with high levels of crime. But seriously, the highest crime related areas in South Africa are the areas that are not close to or not even related to the World Cup. As for the racial tension - yes it exsist in the 1 tiny little off the map town that Eugene Tereblanche lived in.

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There is legitimate concern about safety in South Africa, I can certainly understand why people wouldn't want to go (see Timorborder's post, as well as some of the crime statistics below:

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/sf-south-africa/cri-crime

Frankly I'm glad the sales are down so much; why reward a government rife with corruption and graft? Let them learn to take care of their own suffering populace properly, before awarding them things like the bloody World Cup.

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World Cup Tickets aren't that expensive

For Japanese people they aren't.. for the local South Africans I heard at least some tickets are about 1 weeks pay for someone on minimum wage, anyway...

If all the tickets aren't sold FIFA will still want the stadiums to look full on TV so maybe they'll let local people attend at much reduced prices. That's a good thing. FIFA could just choose a dead cert payday every 4 years by holding the tournament in European and other wealthy nations, but I'm glad they haven't done that and I think I think SA will be a very different and interesting world cup.

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For 'most' football fans you don't go to a match to watch your team win (why else would teams at the bottom of the table still be getting 20/30,000? And the away ends at the likes of Old Trafford, Emirates and Stamford Bridge always be full?). You go along to support your team and the World Cup is the perfect place to do that, so the main reason why Japanese fans aren't buying tickets is because of the fact it's in a pretty dangerous country (Japanese players were told last uear not to leave their hotels) and because of the outrageous costs that they're being charged. They should be able to go for half what they're being charged (World Cup Tickets aren't that expensive) and it's clearly the travel companies that are looking to make a killing.

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No Japanese in their right mind would pay a fortune to fly around the world to a dangerous country to watch their team get beat. How about that for a reason Mr Ogura?

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“Ticket sales in the United States are good, they are also good for Europe but Asia is bad.We need more Japanese to go,” Ogura told Thursday’s Nikkan Sports newspaper.

Err, hello ? Does he have any idea how long it takes to fly to South Africa from Asia (Japan) ? Take a look at a globe before you open your mouth mate.

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So a World Cup should only be awarded to countries with a good level of football? Guess that automatically rules out Australia's bid then.

Moderator: Back on topic please.

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With those right-wing crazies over there making veiled threats that "all hell is going to break loose" when the cup starts - and the awful ANC is no better than a gang of criminals itself - I don't blame anyone for not wanting to go. Ticket sales are down everywhere in the world. Also, I don't know why FIFA chose South Arica - soccer is not played at a good level there - we all know rugby is their sport. The country is not a happy place, unfortunately.

Or it could be just that soccer has peaked - there is saturation of it all year round - and people are probably just getting tired of it.

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It's not just Japan. Ticket sales for this world Cup are way down, and safety seems to be one of the biggest factors in keeping people away.

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Most Japanese are scared half to death when they realise a gaijin is walking behind them

indeed!!

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The concern over security is a big issue. Although the Japanese press has not reported on it much, with old Eugene (Terre Blanche) being knocked off a couple of week's ago, and that idiot who is the head of ANC Youth Wing recommending that everybody start singing "Kill the Boer," the situation hardly seems conducive to welcoming guests from overseas.

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unscrejects, exactly. Prices in Japan are inflated. Once I met a group of Japanese tourists in Ao Nang, Thailand and they're riding on Limousines along the road by the beach. It was ridiculous. Later I was told they pay for this when buying travel packages in Japan.

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E. because they are Japanese they are increasing the price of everything LOL!!

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It's not so much the crap performance of the Japanese team. There are enough die-hard fans to show up and support them. It's the crazy violent crime rates and racial tensions that make SA an extremely unattractive place to go. They really dropped the ball in choosing SA for the World Cup.

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Marcel: Bingo. And when I want to go there for soccer the travel agency is telling me the tour includes three days at Victoria Falls, two nights in the Okavango, two nights along the Skeleton Coast and a number of secret stop overs added for a surprise. The tour goes through four countries and I only want to go to two cities in SA!

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I can understand why they can,t sell enough tickets.. A. It,s tooo expensive B.South Africa doesn,t exactly have the safety reputation of Japan. C.Japan are in a really tough group and it would be a miracle if they won one match. D.You need immunisations to go to Africa. E.Because they are Japanese they are increasing the price of everything... F.Africa isn,t exposed in this country as a holiday destination , even with the WC coming soon, That,s why many people think Africa is a country,..

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Well Einstein you certainly aren't are you??? Getting booed off the pitch on your last encounter due to inept efforts would kind of slow sales a tad. Not to mention the fact where the World Cup is being held. Most Japanese are scared half to death when they realise a gaijin is walking behind them on the street let alone traveling to one of the most dangerous places in the world.

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ditto Dog.

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$5,300 to travel half way across the world to see your national side get hammered on an international scale? Ridiculously priced tour. How much are the actual match tickets anyway?

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Look for their losing streak to continue. It is too far to go for a match, people will go if they want to go to South Africa and then view a match as a sidenote.

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