England fans receive just 4,000 tickets for crunch World Cup opener against USA - Exclusive
Published 23:00 05/12/09 By Brian McNally
Thousand of England fans face a lock-out for their World Cup crunch against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12.
The FA’s official allocation for Fabio Capello’s opener is just 4,125 tickets for the 42,500 capacity Royal Bafokeng Stadium (above). This is certain to create a black-market scramble.
Kevin Miles of the Football Supporters’ Federation said: “It’s unfortunate that the biggest match in the group is going to be played in the smallest stadium.
“The USA game is going to be the hottest ticket in town. They will be like good dust. If we go back to Rustenburg, tickets for the round of 16 they will be even harder to find.
“It may be just the draw that Fabio Capello and the players wanted but from a fans’ point of view it is going to leave a lot of people disappointed in their search for tickets.”
Miles went on: “Already plans are in place for up to 20,000 ticketless fans to watch the England-USA game on giant screens at a local college campus in Rustenburg.
“In terms of travelling, the draw also creates difficulties. Most fans will be based in Johannesburg – a two-hour drive to Rustenburg.
“But the second game in Cape Town means a 950-mile trip on some poor roads which will almost certainly need an overnight stay, while Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is something like an eight-hour drive.”
