'Hell, it was definitely worth it'

Published May 28, 2010

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By Shain Germaner

There was another fiasco in a ticketing centre in Rivonia this morning when fans were told that the systems were down just minutes after they had opened.

It took hours to get it going again.

A police presence was eventually required to control the rowdy crowd while they waited for the system to be up and running again.

Hundreds were queuing at the Fifa ticketing centre on Rivonia Road for a chance to get some of the last 150 000 tickets for the World Cup.

Thami Mtembu at the front of the queue had been waiting since Wednesday afternoon for his tickets, not having bathed or changed his clothes for the full 40-hour stand-off against the ticketing office.

As 9am drew closer and closer, excitement and tension grew amongst fans at the front of the line.

The book, known to staff as the Book of Life, containing only the names of people who had already received queueing numbers, was brought out.

As Mtembu's name was announced, the crowd cheered.

"This is the first World Cup in South Africa. I must be a part of it," said Mtembu.

But the excitement at the ticketing centre faded as the few who had been let into the building were told that the system was down.

Cries for the manager came from disgruntled customers.

"After waiting for 18 hours - now this," said one of the queuers.

Jessica Constant, manager and spokeswoman for the ticketing centre, would not comment on the malfunction as at the time of publication.

Fans queuing outside began to push towards the building as the line failed to move.

The once orderly queue was replaced with a mass of tense people.

Queue place numbers seemed the biggest bone of contention.

Two police cars arrived by 9.30am with officers to control the crowd before things got violent.

A few tickets were sold prior to the system error.

While Mtembu was first in the line, it was the fourth person in the queue who managed to get his ticket first.

Aden Lahoud proudly displayed his 20 tickets - ten to the opening match and ten to the final - through the ticketing centre's inner doors.

"I've been here since Wednesday night, and 39 hours later I got them. It's unbelievable," said Lahoud.

"Hell, it was definitely worth it."

Fifa announced yesterday that only 800 tickets for the final were still available and that they were expected to be sold out by 9.30am.

Fifa also promised the ticketing systems would be up and running despite concerns following previous problems.

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