Herbert Rachuene
Fifa General Secretary Jérôme Valcke said he was happy with the readiness of the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Valcke was addressing throngs of regional, national and international journalists, at the Stadium during the Fifa 100 days to the World Cup countdown road show on Saturday.
Valcke acknowledged that they will have more tickets to accommodate fans from neighbouring countries, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as Polokwane being closest stadium.
"We have increased the ticket allocations for South Africa and its neighboring countries. We need to make sure that we give fans access to the stadiums.
We need to offer what fans are expecting, not just hospitality packages. We have moved some Category 2 and 3 tickets into category 4 to reach a level of 20% exclusively for the South African market. I do not want to see an empty seat at the World Cup - and we will never give away tickets for free.
We have got all unused tickets back from our partners, so we can bring them in the markets. We also work closely with our partners to make sure that all tickets will be going to the fans. So far, we have sold 2,1 out of 2,9 million tickets," said Valcke.
The Peter Mokaba Sports Complex will host Algeria vs Slovenia on 13 June, France vs Mexico on 17 June, Greece vs Argentina on 22 June and finally Paraguay vs New Zealand on 24 June.
Executive Mayor of Polokwane Municipality, Mr Thabo Makunyane declared Polokwane ready, referring to the two new five-star hotels and 5 500 beds that will accommodate the fans during the matches.