Attendance second-highest after US, organisers say

Attendance at the World Cup in South Africa is set to be the highest since the tournament was held in the United States in 1994, chief organiser Danny Jordaan said yesterday.

"I think we will be the second highest in World Cup history, second to the United States," Jordaan told a news conference as the tournament reached its mid-way point, with 32 of the 64 games played.

"We'll probably go over three million (tickets sold) and therefore we'll be second highest in terms of ticket sales number."

Attendance during the 11 matches averaged about 5,000 fans higher than over the same period during the last World Cup in Germany, partly because several of South Africa's stadiums are much larger than Germany's, he added.

Organisers investigated poor attendance at four of the early matches that saw large blocks of empty seats in the stands as some fans failed to show up, he said.

Even with South Africa's Bafana Bafana facing an uphill battle to stay in the tournament before yesterday's match against France, Jordaan said the country was happy to see the World Cup staged successfully.

"It's the event that is in the heart of South Africans over and above our own team," he said.

"It's a wonderful success story so far. The things that you cannot quantify is how South Africans feel about their country, how they feel about the pride that has been generated, how the world views us.

"This country never had such positive reporting over such a prolonged period anywhere in our history."