World Cup 2010 Thread

[Dirk Gently]

(as we don't seem to have a dedicated thread yet...)

FIFA blasts England for "scaremongering"

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/article/newsitem=31/title=fifa+blasts+england+for+world+cup+scare+mongering

[Thaumagurist*]

Is it the media or the FA that they're not happy with?

[bassavage]

Are they saying this simply becasue we haven't sold out our allocation for the summer?

[Dirk Gently]

I think it's mainly the Press.

But the real reason for the lack of take up is the way the locals are trying to cash in - they're just ludicrous - really pricing themselves out of the market.

Below is part of an e-mail from a m8 of mine :

I was lucky with tickets and managed to get Cat 3's all the way through but the cost of flights and hotels is proving very difficult. Last week I was quoted by two B&B hotels in Magliesberg at £100 per twin room per night for a two night stay. Both hotels have come back to me this week and are after exclusivity for the whole tournament and want to charge £356 per night, that's a total of £9,968 for basic B&B!! Unreal.

[Row Z Royal]

(as we don't seem to have a dedicated thread yet...)

FIFA blasts England for "scaremongering"

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/article/newsitem=31/title=fifa+blasts+england+for+world+cup+scare+mongering

Nothing to do with everyone being skint, of course.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I think it's mainly the Press.

But the real reason for the lack of take up is the way the locals are trying to cash in - they're just ludicrous - really pricing themselves out of the market.

Below is part of an e-mail from a m8 of mine :

I was lucky with tickets and managed to get Cat 3's all the way through but the cost of flights and hotels is proving very difficult. Last week I was quoted by two B&B hotels in Magliesberg at £100 per twin room per night for a two night stay. Both hotels have come back to me this week and are after exclusivity for the whole tournament and want to charge £356 per night, that's a total of £9,968 for basic B&B!! Unreal.

Yep, I have 7 tickets for random games (applied "blind" for games before the draw was made) but there's almost no chance of going now. Getting there is around £1000, and hotels are going for £200 a night. Internal flights, usually about £30, are now £200+. All in, I'd be looking at around £3000 minimum for two weeks.

The hotel problem is that FIFA allowed one company to buy up all the 3-5 star hotel rooms and sell them at their own price - although mainly they've just been reserved for sponsors.

There is a FIFA booking service, but it's useless. Rather than online booking, you have to apply to every hotel you are considering and ask how much it will cost or if there are even rooms available.

You also have to bear in mind that unlike most cities around the world, where you are told the districts to avoid, in South Africa you get told the distrists you don't need to avoid, which limits hotel options. Staying out of town is tricky due to very limited public transport, which in the case of trains is often unsafe anyway.

Expect to see loads of empty seats at the games. The world cup will not be going back to a developing nation for a very long time.