The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the news that the 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organising Committee wants, from April, to change the way World Cup match tickets will be sold in South Africa in an attempt to make it easier for local fans to buy tickets.

COSATU has been increasingly alarmed at reports that South African and other African fans are not buying tickets, even for the matches featuring Bafana Bafana. It raises the frightening prospect that Africa's historic first World Cup tournament might be watched by crowds drawn mainly from Europe and America or white South Africans supporting foreign teams, while the majority of local fans are left outside.
At the moment, tickets can only be bought by filling in application forms at First National Bank (FNB) branches or by applying online. Fans have complained that this is too complicated; many in rural areas live nowhere near an FNB branch and many fans have no internet access and/or are not familiar with it as a way to get tickets.

There must be direct sales over the counter in every locality and this must be brought forward. April could be too late. Virtually all the tickets could have been sold out by then and fans will have lost their chance.

In the meantime people should use the current process, whenever possible, to purchase their tickets. The time-frame for this has been extended from 9 February to 7 April. Show your patriotism and pride in South Africa and get your tickets without delay! Be able to say: "I was there!" We also urge fans to get South African flags to ensure that we are not outnumbered by the flags of our opponents.

We appeal to employers to start planning now to adjust their work schedules for the period of the World Cup to make them more flexible so that more workers can attend matches.

The federation admires the campaign to promote patriotism and support for our national team by urging us all to wear Bafana Bafana shirts every Friday, but condemns the price of R699 being charged for the official shirt. This is way beyond the pockets of most South Africans and is just a way for the manufacturers and retailers to make a killing at the expense of the fans. If we are serious about the campaign, the price must be slashed. COSATU urges all employers to assist by bulk buying shirts for their employees.

We repeat our all for call World Cup-related goods to be manufactured locally, to create jobs and create a permanent legacy of an expanded local industry.