FIFA is warning football fans to beware of fake tickets for next year’s World Cup in South Africa as it cracks down on fraudulent Internet sales.

In order to prevent forgery, official match tickets will only be printed a few weeks before the tournament kicks off next year.

FIFA has revealed that it is working with international authorities to address the problem. It praises in particular British efforts to shut down websites selling fake tickets.

FIFA has reiterated that fans who buy fake tickets will not be able to access the stadium on the day of the match.

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Source(s): BBC News

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Football, Soccer, South Africa

South African trade unions say they will consult their members over the latest offer to end a dispute which has halted work at 2010 World Cup stadiums. The strike is still on, even though employers say that a framework agreement has been reached after lengthy talks. About 70,000 miners embarked on a strike on Wednesday, demanding a 13% pay rise. The BBC says a decision is expected next week.

There are fears that the strike, called by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which includes construction workers, could delay the completion of Gauteng’s new high speed rail, Guatrain, which is being built specifically for the World Cup. It was due to be completed just two weeks before the first game in June 2010. The stadiums are due to be completed by December and before the strike, work was on schedule.

Five new stadiums are being built and five existing ones upgraded. It is not clear what the framework agreement entails, but employers had been offering a 10% rise, against the 13% demanded by the unions.

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Football, Soccer, South Africa

Mediation efforts are under way in South Africa in a bid to end a national strike which has brought construction at the 2010 World Cup sites to a halt. Some 70,000 workers downed tools on Wednesday demanding a 13% pay rise but employers are only offering 10%. Construction companies have described other union demands as “unacceptable”.

Representatives from the government, unions, companies, and the FIFA World Cup local organizing committee are in talks at a mediation centre in Johannesburg. Apart from the pay rise, the workers want their contracts rewritten to include paternity leave – as well as allowances for food and days affected by bad weather. The employers say that would increase labor costs by more than 50%. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Football, Soccer, South Africa

Some 70,000 construction workers in South Africa have gone on strike, halting work on stadiums being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Union strikes threaten to wreck the tournament if their demands for a 13% wage increase are not met. Organisers say they are confident the grounds will still be ready, unless the strike continues for months. On Monday, judges rejected a request from the employers to outlaw the strike, which unions say is indefinite.

Scores of workers are outside Soccer City stadium wearing blue overalls and brandishing sticks. “We are struggling for our country,” they chanted, after downing their tools at midday. Soccer City union organiser, Patrick Geqeza, blamed management’s inflexibility for precipitating the strike. “We feel bad about going on strike. [But] they don’t want to meet us half way,” he told AP news agency. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Football, Soccer, South Africa