SAfrica slow to buy Confeds Cup tickets but WC2010 sales strong

Early global 2010 World Cup ticket applications are strong but South African hosts have been slow in securing seats to the curtain-raiser Confederations Cup, organisers said Tuesday.

More than 506,000 worldwide online applications for World Cup tickets had been made since ticket applications opened on February 20.

The tremendous response is extremely exciting and gives us a great deal of confidence, said Irvin Khoza, chairman of the local organising committee.

It is now even more important for us to ensure that the Confederations Cup will be a success, he said.

Only 170,000 of the 646,000 available tickets for the Confederations Cup, traditionally seen as a curtain-raiser to the world s top football event, have been sold ahead of the eight nation tourn…