The only thing FIFA hates more than a boring nil-nil snoozer is a boring nil-nil snoozer played in front of empty seats.
World Cup matches are meant to be played in front of capacity crowds regardless of the opposition. Why? Because it’s an event. An event that only takes place once every four years, almost guaranteeing it ‘must watch, must be there’ status.
In the first four days, though, we’ve already seen that perhaps this edition of the World Cup doesn’t have the same cache as previous tournaments
The main culprits to date have been:
Algeria-Slovenia in Polokwane: Capacity 41,733 actual attendance 30,325
South Korea-Greece in Port Elizabeth: Capacity 42,486 actual attendance 31,531
Serbia-Ghana in Pretoria: Capacity 42,858 actual attendance 38,833
Granted, these matches aren’t the easiest to sell but FIFA did claim that only 700 tickets were available for the Algeria-Slovenia matchup.
One wonders if FIFA is already slanting the books with an eye on 2018 and 2022, whose TV rights are up for grabs in December. TV companies are not known to spend millions and billions on products where empty seats fill the lenses of cameras.
Certainly there are some legitimate and not so legitimate reasons for the no-shows.
The most obvious is that South Africans don’t make a great deal of money and cannot afford the tickets. In this case, fingers should be pointed at FIFA who must be well aware of the economy of the country. Yes, the lowest category ticket is supposedly affordable, but what is the definition of affordable when you earn $10 dollars a day?
Another possible explanation that FIFA has offered is that tourists who previously bought tickets have been put off by crime, the high cost of plane travel, rip-off hotel prices or the fact that it is winter in South Africa. All logical explanations, but I’m not buying that as football fans save for four years to attend World Cups.
The traffic situation is also being used as an excuse for no-shows. This time I fully agree with FIFA, having been stuck in the ‘four hours there-four hours back’ gridllock after watching England play the USA in Rustenburg. Only the heartiest and most determined fan is going to make that trek again. Once again though, FIFA must have been aware of the fact that the South African infrastructure was not prepared to deal with the amount of fans going to games.
Even Soccer City, which is located in the suburbs of Johannesburg and has new highways connecting it, has not been immune, with mile-long backups.
When asked about the situation, a FIFA spokesman said: “It looked like a lot of people did not show up at the stadium. We are investigating this. We asked for a system to be put in place. Apparently, that has not worked.”
Let the finger-pointing begin.
From my point of view on the ground, I’m looking squarely at FIFA and the LOC (local organizing committee) for this embarrassment and here’s why:
Will FIFA and the LOC take responsibility?
Sure they will, just like when New Zealand lift the World Cup trophy in Soccer City on July 11th in front of 50,000 in the venue with a capacity of 90,000+.
Nick Webster is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the English national team and the Barclays Premier League.
