Start Preparing For World Cup 2010

If the global scramble to apply for 2010 FIFA World Cup tickets is any indication, next year's tournament promises to be an unforgettable experience. Applications for tickets to South Africa 2010 opened last Friday, resulting in tremendous interest from all corners of the globe. The first FIFA World Cup to be held on the African continent promises to be a breathtaking spectacle both on and off the field. Now that the ticketing process has commenced we want to know what you are most looking forward to about the tournament. As FIFA World Cup fever kicks in, you can share your views with the world on why South Africa 2010 will be so special. Add your comments here to get involved, remembering to keep your posts clean, respectful, on topic and in English.

After a successful first phase of FIFA 2010 World Cup tickets the second (2nd) phase is going to start from 4th of May 2009. And will continue till November 2009. This phase will operate on a first come, first served basis. Two more sales phases - a random selection followed again by a first-come-first-served phase - will follow the World Cup Final Draw, in which the 32 participating teams will be drawn into eight groups for the tournament. The first of these sales phases will run from 5 December 2009 to 22 January 2010, and the second from 9 February to 7 April 2010. Finally, if there are still any tickets left over, these will be sold in a "last minute" sales phase running from 15 April to 11 July 2010.

South Africa needs to allocate more funds and boost marketing to promote the 2010 World Cup among South Africans, a senior government official said on Wednesday. The acknowledgment comes amid criticism from world football governing body FIFA, which fears stadiums for the prestigious tournament and the scene-setting 2009 Confederations Cup would lack adequate local support. "My reading of the situation at this stage is that we are not putting enough resources for marketing these two important events to South Africans," cabinet spokesman Themba Maseko told journalists. "It's not just money... It's a lot of planning and coordination, but I think money is going to be at the centre of whatever interventions we put in place," Maseko said, without elaborating. He added that major sponsors of the World Cup were also not doing enough to promote the tournament, being held in Africa for the first time, among South African fans. However, some sponsors will start advertising the World Cup on their products, such as drinks cans, over the next few weeks, Maseko said. On Tuesday, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke criticised South Africa's lacklustre approach, saying he had not seen a "single promotion" for the two tournaments. Approximately 170,000 tickets have been sold for the Confederations Cup, featuring Brazil, Spain and Italy among the eight teams taking part, from June 14-28. "All evidence is indicating that the local (World Cup) Organising Committee, the government, host cities, we are all not doing enough to market this tournament to South Africans and so that is the challenge," Maseko said.