No plans to lower ticket prices at Confederations Cup

Despite a half-empty stadium for Spain's win over New Zealand on the opening day of the Confederations Cup, organisers said Monday they had no plans to lower ticket prices to give poor South Africans a better chance of attending a match.

Spain beat New Zealand 5-0 at the Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg, but only 21,649 fans were there to watch at the 42,000-seat venue.

"The South African nation's job is to host the event, not attend it," said Rich Mkhondo, the 2010 World Cup organising committee spokesman. "You can take the horse to the water, but you can't force it to drink that water."

Outside the financial capital, many poor South Africans struggle to afford tickets, which range from $US10 ($NZ15.90) to as high as $200 for the final.

"There might be some lower attendances for some games," Fifa spokesman Nicolas Maingot said. "This is actually not, I would say, a first in a Fifa competition. But probably we must look also at the wider picture and look at the ticketing situation when we come closer to the end of the tournament."

The opening match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was close to a sellout, with nearly 50,000 people watching the hosts play out a 0-0 draw against Iraq. Fifa said before the World Cup warm-up tournament started that 71 percent of the 640,000 tickets had been sold for the 16 matches.

"I'm honestly not aware of any plans to change the prices of the tickets," Maingot said.

Mkhondo said the organising committee and Fifa have been holding talks on the matter of attendance.

"Even if Fifa does do that, what guarantee do we have that 100,000 people will turn up?" Mkhondo said.

Many fans did show up for South Africa's first match at Ellis Park, but much of the stadium during the opening ceremony was empty in part due to transport problems - one of the country's main concerns a year ahead of the World Cup.

Mkhondo said many fans parked their cars at designated areas well before the start of the opening ceremony but found it difficult to get shuttle buses to the stadium.

"This is a new experience for some of us and for many South Africans, and we've always emphasised that people must come to the park-and-ride facility hours before because there may be some gridlock," Mkhondo said.

Still, both Fifa and the local organising committee were pleased with the opening ceremony and the rest of the day's proceedings.

"We're not saying everything was perfect," Mkhondo said. "But we're just happy about the way things were."

AP