Fifa Denies African Fans Priced Out Of World Cup

A senior Fifa official has denied African football fans are being priced out of the World Cup in South Africa. "It will be a real African World Cup," Jerome Valcke told the BBC. Most stadiums would be sold out, he added. However, fans in the African countries that have qualified say tickets are being sold on the internet, to which they have limited access. Furthermore, even if they could afford tickets, few African fans have credit cards, needed for online purchases. "To sell tickets online is very unrealistic," Cameroonian football fan and librarian Kini Nsom Sylvanus told the BBC's World Today programme. "Checking my mail is a very difficult thing, let alone going to look for the website of Fifa to apply for a ticket. It is going to block many people. "I am very unhappy about that." But he said he was elated Cameroon had qualified for the first World Cup to be held in Africa. "I can walk through fire for the Lions, so you can imagine the joy in my heart." The BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah says that the Cameroonian government usually pays for a small group of official fans to travel to international matches but many more fans would like to travel to South Africa. Mr Valcke said the world's football authority was trying to work with airline companies to offer tickets, so African fans could travel to the showpiece event, which kicks off in 100 days. He said 2.3 million tickets had been sold, out of a total of 2.9 million. Mr Valcke added 10 matches were already sold out and extra tickets were being made available for South African fans. He also said he was confident all the stadiums, pitches and transport facilities would be ready in time.