For the second time out of as many over-the-counter sales attempts, Fifa's ticketing systems crashed today, letting down thousands of hopefuls wanting to attend the 2010 World Cup.
An additional 90 000 World Cup tickets went on sale today and Fifa gave assurances that there would be no repeat of earlier problems.
However, the soccer governing body now says its official ticketing service provider, Match, has confirmed that, once again, significant delays were experienced in the sales process due to technical problems, which affected all sales channels.
When the ticketing system failed in April, SA ticketing manager for Match, James Byrom, said: “We experienced some delays in issuing tickets at the outset, but we've been working on improving the response time of the system. With the improvements we have already made, the process is getting quicker and we are confident it will continue to improve throughout the day.”
Fifa's media advisory member Wolfgang Eichler says over-the-counter sales are now up and running, and about 20 000 tickets have been sold so far today, but Fifa has demanded a detailed report from Match.
“Today, I would like to sincerely apologise to all the fans that have been affected by the problems in the ticketing sales system. We have already demanded a detailed report from our service provider, Match AG, on the causes of these problems and are expecting that they solve the situation very soon,” says Fifa secretary-general J'er^ome Valcke.
Disappointment all round
Among the affected sales channels were First National Bank (FNB) branches. The bank says: “FNB is as disappointed as fans that the appointed Fifa ticketing agent Match's systems have crashed once again this morning, due to volume overload.”
The bank says this is despite Match's guarantees and promises to FNB, as well as from Valcke, who personally reassured fans yesterday that there would be no further ticketing issues.
“FNB has no indication of when Fifa's ticketing system will be operational again, but we will do our best to keep the people in our branches informed as and when we are in a position to do so.”
Meanwhile, frustrated soccer fans outside the Sandton ticketing office say there is little information filtering through to them from inside the building.
Many have been waiting outside the building for up to 19 hours and are taking turns to stand in line, while others keep their place. Out of frustration, several fans decided to try their luck at different offices to see if they could get tickets.
Others left without any tickets at all, not prepared to stand in another queue all day. Those at the front of the queue are pressed up against the windows, hoping the security guard would call them into the office.
The guards protecting the entrance would not let ITWeb into the office to question officials at the desk, because they were concerned that fans would start a riot if it appeared reporters were being allowed to jump the queue.
Know your market
WWW Strategy MD Steven Ambrose previously said selling tickets over the counter was meant to make it easier for the many South Africans without Internet access or credit cards to get tickets to the event, and Fifa should have expected a large response.
“My sense is that Fifa, from the very beginning, did absolutely no research on the local market and dynamics,” says Ambrose.
He explains that the first three million tickets could only be purchased through complicated processes that weren't accessible to the majority of African fans.
“Internet penetration in SA is only 10% and in other African countries only 1% or 2%. How could they not anticipate a large demand for first time physical sales in such an environment? I just don't understand it,” says Ambrose.
“This is not rocket science or an insurmountable task. It's a complete disgrace that has been shown to SA soccer fans.”
Ambrose feels this not only shows a lack of understanding, but also a “cynical lack of care for SA fans”.
“They have done this numerous times around the world and it worked. They did not understand the lack of connectivity in SA. If we had a 70% connectivity rate it would have been fine. They honestly did not care for or understand the SA market. For them, it's just that the World Cup happens to be in SA.”
* Click here to see ITWeb's “Fifa ticket fiasco” gallery of photographs. (Photographs by Candice Jones)
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Fifa drops the ball
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