Africans Can't Afford to Go to World Cup Games in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa April 23, 2010— -- South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup in less than 60 days, a first for the African continent.

Hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world are planning to attend. Americans and Europeans have made up the bulk of the ticket-buyers, which was expected. What wasn't expected are the small numbers of Africans who will attend.

Despite soccer's being the most popular sport on a continent where fans are often referred to as "football (soccer) crazy," Africans have accounted for only 2 percent of the more than 2 million in ticket sales, buying less than 12,000, according to a report by Grant Thornton, an international accounting firm. The African fan numbers were never expected to be huge but they've totaled 77 percent less than predicted.

"Given evidence of huge interest from the continent, this indicates that there has been a failure in distribution channels and unaffordable pricing," according to the report.

Critics say the first problem was the way in which tickets were made available for purchase. The first four phases of ticketing were entirely through the Internet and credit-card dependent. Less than 5 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans have access to the Web, and in largely cash-based societies, credit card usage is even less.

Cost was also a prohibitive factor. Travel within Africa is expensive. Air fares are high on a normal basis and inter-country road trips on sometimes unpaved highways, if even possible, can take weeks.

The average ticket price for a match is about $139, with the cheapest around $80. While there is a special category for South African residents where tickets can go for as low $19, residents of other African countries are ineligible.

"So if you're a Liberian or if you're from Mali or from Kenya and you want to go to the World Cup, tough. It's $80," Steve Bloomfield, journalist and author of "Africa United: How Football Explains Africa," said. "When you add that up with the flight and the hotel, it becomes very expensive."