LEBOGANG SEALE
SOCCER fans wanting to go to the Soweto derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday are urged to buy tickets early.
By late yesterday about 25 000 tickets had already been snatched up – six days after they went on sale. Only 83 000 tickets, including for the corporate and hospitality suites, will be sold because organisers have restricted attendance at the 95 000-capacity FNB Stadium for security reasons.
Organisers are expecting that tickets will be sold out by Thursday.
The executive chairman of Stadium Management SA, Jacques Grobbelaar, warned fans that stricter road closures would be imposed around the stadium precinct. Only fans with valid tickets would be allowed into the precinct.
Both sets of fans were upbeat. “I am going to buy new clothes, something new and crazy, because this is the biggest derby in Africa. It’s a must-win game. We will take it from where we left off in the MTN8 final,” said Thina Mavhunga, who has become an embodiment of the Ghost with her emotion in the grandstand.
Nelly Kubayi, an ardent “Khosi” who never misses a Chiefs game, is equally optimistic. “We did them a favour in the MTN to award them for their 75th anniversary celebrations. Now it’s time for them to starting paying back, starting on Saturday.”
Tickets can be bought at Shoprite/Checkers and Computicket. Tickets for the upper tier are selling at R40 each while those in the lower tier cost R60.
The Ghost will occupy the eastern side of the stadium while Chiefs fans will sit on the western side.
l Coach Julio Cesar Leal’s time at Pirates may well be over, after the club announced yesterday that he has been suspended.
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