World Cup booth ticket sales weak

Cape Town: World Cup organisers say they are just halfway to their target for corporate hospitality packages at this year’s soccer tournament in South Africa and thousands of tickets from sponsors and partners have been returned.

Ticket sales in the corporate sector, where spots are sold in luxury booths at higher prices than regular seats, have been weak because of the global financial crisis, said Jerome Valcke, secretary general of FIFA, soccer’s governing body.

“It was the worst period to sell hospitality programmes,” Valcke said. “I’m sure that it impacted at least by 50% the potential.”