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JOHANNESBURG, April 28 (Reuters) - Half the tickets for the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa have been sold and organisers are hopeful of a complete sellout before the competition kicks off in June.
The organising committee said on Tuesday around 320,000 of the 640,000 tickets had been sold via the Internet and through local banks.
The June 14-28 tournament, which will feature eight teams including world champions Italy, Euro 2008 winners Spain and South American champions Brazil, will serve as a warmup for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Chief executive Danny Jordaan said ticket sales for the Confederations Cup were boosted by corporate clients, who had taken up 55 percent of those sold following a big internal marketing drive in recent weeks.
Organisers now plan to launch "over the counter" sales in main ticket centres in the host cities of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein.
"By simplifying the process we are certain South Africans will find it easier to purchase their tickets and hope this will create the necessary demand to sell out all matches," Jordaan told reporters.
Around 8,000 security will be deployed in and around the host cities during the Confederations Cup.
South Africa, Spain, Iraq and New Zealand are in Group A while Brazil, Italy, United States and Egypt feature in Group B.
