The 500,000 sold tickets mark set for the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa has been surpassed, the local organizing committee (LOC) and Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Friday, dpa reported. CAF secretary general Hicham El Amrani said of the approximately 850,000 tickets allocated to the public, 563,000 tickets had been sold thus far, with the opening game between South Africa and Cape Verde on Saturday sold out. "This is still not enough for us. We are pushing very very hard to make sure that we will have as many fans attending those games (as possible)," the Moroccan told reporters in Johannesburg. "In the history of the Cup of Nations at this stage we (have) never reached such a level of percentage in filling up the stadiums," said El Amrani. "I'm glad to say all the teams have now arrived in South Africa. There were some rumours or people talking about some people not showing up. They did show up ... I saw them myself." Of the tickets sold, 140,000 were sold in Johannesburg, 103,000 in Durban and Port Elizabeth each, just under 100,000 in Nelspruit and just over 60,000 tickets in Rustenburg, the worst performing host city of the five. El Amrani said CAF has expressed its satisfaction and congratulations to the LOC regarding the continental showpiece's state of readiness at a meeting on Thursday. -- SPA
