Soccer Roundup: S. Africans To Receive World Cup Tickets Free

FIFA’s president, Joseph S. Blatter, is confident South Africa’s stadiums will be built on time for the 2010 World Cup. Construction workers will get a bonus if they do not strike again. Local fans will get cheap and even free tickets to games.

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In fact, the only people missing out on the eve of today’s World Cup draw appear to be the English. Having missed out on the European championships, they now find it will be even harder to get to the 2010 World Cup.

After South Africa was chosen as the host of the 2010 Cup, work on constructing or renovating 10 stadiums began so slowly that there were strong fears they might not be finished in time.

A strike this month held up construction of the Moses Madhiba Stadium in Durban and union leaders threatened similar disruption at the other nine sites.

“We are not only confident but we are sure that all the construction will be ready for the 2010 World Cup,” said Blatter, who visited the Durban stadium yesterday.

Organizers also announced that many of the tickets for the 64 games will be sold at big discounts to local fans, most of whom cannot afford the regular World Cup rates. The cheapest ticket at last year’s championship in Germany cost $51. Up to 20 percent of the tickets sold for the group games in South Africa will be as low as $20.

Some will even be free. Organizers are working out a system of distributing 120,000 free tickets, which will go only to local fans.

The June 11 opening game and July 11 final of the 2010 World Cup will be in Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium.

Blatter’s stadium visit came on the eve of the draw at Durban’s International Convention Center, where England will be fearing the worst.

Having failed to qualify for Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, England found that its FIFA world ranking slipped a spot to 12th because of Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at home to Croatia.

England fell behind nine other European teams and lost a place among those who will be seeded in the draw — Italy, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Croatia and Greece.

England will face one of those teams in the draw, maybe Croatia again. With only the group winners sure to qualify, England could find itself among the eight runners-up who go to the playoffs or missing out on the World Cup.

The 53 European teams will be split into eight qualifying groups of six and one of five, with 13 teams eventually advancing.

The United States is one of the top three seeds in qualifying from Concacaf, along with Mexico and Costa Rica. DISPUTE IN LIVERPOOL The Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said the club’s American owners needed a better understanding of the soccer transfer market.

Benitez reportedly is feuding with George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks over how much money he can spend on signings during January’s transfer window.

“They don’t understand what the transfer window means in Europe,” Benitez said after Liverpool won by 3-0 at Newcastle in the Premier League yesterday. “They need to understand how difficult it is to sign players.”

European soccer teams can trade players only during transfer periods in January and the off-season in July and August.

Gillett, owner of the N.H.L.’s Montreal Canadiens, and Hicks, owner of baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars, bought Liverpool in March.

They released a statement Thursday asking Benitez to concentrate on the players he has. They said they would not discuss transfers until their next visit to Liverpool, which is expected in mid-December.ARSENAL TAKES OVER FIRST Arsenal took sole possession of first place in the Premier League yesterday with a 2-0 victory over Wigan after Manchester United fell in a surprising 1-0 loss at Bolton. It was Manchester United’s first defeat at Bolton since 1978.

Arsenal leads the league with 33 points, followed by Manchester United with 30.

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