24 Jun 2010

FIFA release 5,000 knockout stage tickets

2:52 pm on 24 June 2010

FIFA will release 5000 tickets for the World Cup knockout stage after hosts South Africa and 1998 champions France went out at the group stage.

The tickets had been reserved by fans hoping Bafana Bafana and Group A favourites France would reach the last 16.

Instead, Uruguay and Mexico qualified from the section and will face South Korea and Argentina respectively.

There are 4,000 tickets available for Sunday's Uruguay-South Korea match in Port Elizabeth and 1,000 for Monday's Argentina-Mexico clash in Johannesburg.

FIFA had been criticised for its early online ticketing strategy that excluded many poor South Africans but later it opened cash ticketing offices.

Football's world governing body says 97 percent of tickets had been sold for the finals, despite empty seats at the stadiums.