The Premier Soccer League has come out to put out fires regarding messaging around the Nedbank Cup final with fans eager to literally grab a seat for the Soweto Derby showdown.
Soon as it was confirmed that this season’s Nedbank Cup final will be contested by Kaizer Chiefs against Orlando Pirates, almost the whole of South Africa went into a frenzy, what with the fixture having long taken up its position as the biggest on the local football calendar.
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That Amakhosi are aiming to arrest a 10-year trophy drought, while Jose Riveiro’s men are going for their sixth cup in three seasons, adds an interesting twist to the tale of rivalry, passion, and anticipation.
Perhaps the most significant of all the pre-match talk surrounds the choice of venue for the upcoming instalment of the derby, with Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium chosen for the 10 May spectacle.
The 2010 World Cup stadium has a capacity of 56 000, a far cry from the capacity of 94 000 that the game’s traditional venue, FNB Stadium, has.
It means a vigorous scramble for tickets is expected to ensue, and the sold-out sign to be put up within days, if not hours, after tickets go on sale.
Such has been the state of excitement, that the ubiquitous peddlers of fake information that are known to reside on social media platforms have already begun to use that air of desperation to their advantage.
Thus, word has been spreading that tickets for the blockbuster match will go on sale on Thursday at 09:00, something the League has moved quickly to dispel.
“Please note that reports doing the rounds on social media about Nedbank Cup Final tickets are false.
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“As per norm, the PSL will issue an official statement prior to the sale of tickets,” said a terse PSL communique released on Wednesday.
That said, the football-loving public is on high alert regarding the availability of tickets, which look set to be sold via the usual channels, with Moses Mabhida to operate independently of the recent Stadium Management South Africa measures aimed at curbing ticketing fraud in games between the Big Three.
