The English FA have returned some of their tickets to Fifa and sales in Germany and Holland have also been slow, amid the disconnected though still unhelpful publicity surrounding the attack on the Togo team bus in Angola and doubts raised by influential football figures such as Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeness over cost and security. The last two questions are linked, because apart from the relative scarcity of available aircraft seats and hotel beds that is driving up the price of World Cup packages, fears over visitors' safety mean that most deals are being pitched at wealthy individuals staying in upmarket accommodation rather than independent travellers on a budget.
South Africa's cup is failing to set the world on fire
Guardian
January 31, 2010
