Huge demand cripples World Cup ticket sales

Ticket sales for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa were marred by technological failure in the face of hefty demand on Monday -- the first day of official sales.

Of the 222,000 tickets available to the public in the first phase of sales just 90,000 were sold as customers at the 12 host venues faced long queues, the official website crashed under the weight of demand and there were problems at the call centre.

The tickets on sale on Monday were bundled into packages either for all games at one venue (Stadium Package) or for all matches played by one team in the pool stage (Follow the Team Package).

Both the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, which will host the final on March 23, and Kingsmead in Durban sold out their allocations despite the difficulties, tournament organisers said in a statement.

World Cup organising committee executive director Dr Ali Bacher apologised to the South African fans -- particularly those at Wanderers which saw the heaviest demand -- for having to struggle in vain to buy tickets at the stadiums.

In an effort to calm angry cricket-lovers outside the Wanderers, Bacher told them: "We will come back to you people... You will see World Cup cricket at the Wanderers."

The organising committee has taken the details of hundreds of disappointed fans so that if any tickets come back into the system, they can be offered a Wanderers stadium package.

Bacher said in the organisers' statement fans nationwide were also able to buy Wanderers packages at other venues. "We have always said that we want people from around the country to get a chance to attend the ICC Cricket World Cup final should they so desire."

The World Cup takes place from February 9 to March 23, with matches also scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Many of the fans had spent much of the weekend waiting for the ticket booths to open. Some set up tents outside the Wanderers, lighting fires to ward off the winter cold.

"I'm so upset. We queued from two o'clock," said a 32-year-old called Julia. "It's the one chance for Joe Public to support World Cup cricket at home, but then the organisers go and sell the tickets to people from out of town."

Queues that had formed up to 48 hours beforehand outside the Wanderers stadium and at Newlands in Cape Town had still not moved by 1000 local time -- an hour after tickets were supposed to go on sale.

Organisers expected it would take six minutes to process each transaction but complex security requirements to prevent scalping meant it took three times as long.

ROWDY AND UNPLEASANT

"We arrived at 0600 (local time) with hundreds of other people and the atmosphere was great but it soon became rowdy and not very pleasant as people became angry and frustrated," said Cape Town businessman Warren Boyce.

"I started off queuing with my mother but there were thousands of people standing around going nowhere so they changed the rules and announced that one person could buy for another as well as themselves which let some people go home.

"There were regular updates about what was happening and they tried to cheer us up by saying that it was much slower in Jo'burg and Durban," Boyce added.

Internet customers also suffered. Twenty percent of tickets were available online but heavy worldwide demand crashed the system, leading to a flood of enquiries to the ticketing call centre that promptly collapsed under the strain.

"Busy Server... Please try again later if you would like to book tickets," the World Cup website told frustrated users.

IT company Dimension Data (Didata) said although it had tested the system many times before sales opened, the volume of people trying to log on to the World Cup site clogged it up.

On Tuesday, when sales reopen, there are still likely to be disappointed fans. "There are tickets available and it is going to be under pressure (on Tuesday)," Didata's Greg Vercellotti told public radio.

"Don't forget we will have over 4,000 to 5,000 hits per minute going into that website. There will only be a certain number of people that will be able to get through onto the website and will be able to purchase a ticket."

KwaZulu-Natal chief executive Cassim Docrat of the sold-out Kingsmead venue echoed Vercellotti. "We are never going to be able to satisfy the demand for tickets."

Packages ranged from 100 rand ($10) to watch two matches at the Pietermaritzburg Oval from a grass embankment to 1,100 rand ($110) for a grandstand ticket at the opening ceremony plus five matches at the Newlands stadium.

Tickets for the venues that are not sold out will remain on sale on Tuesday. Tickets for individual matches will go on sale from December 1 this year.

Mail Cricket Editor