Soweto (South Africa), April 16 : The final design for 2010 World Cup tickets was unveiled Friday by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and South Africa organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan at Maponya Mall in Soweto.

The unveiling ceremony of golden-coloured tickets with the World Cup logo on it (an African map and a player doing an overhead kick) was used by organisers to promote the next stage of ticket sales.

Tickets have been made available on a first-come, first-served basis to the general public from April 15, when the fifth and final sales phase began.

"For this last phase, we have made a big effort to assist football fans by introducing various additional means to purchase a ticket," explained Valcke.

"We are committed to facilitating the process for all fans and giving them this last chance to attend the matches and experience the excitement of this first World Cup in Africa."

Prices range from $20 to $160 for group matches and $70 to $450 for the opening match between South Africa and Mexico June 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg,

In all, 500,000 tickets for all matches - except the sold out final July 11 - will be made available.

Tickets can be purchased in South Africa during the final sales phase through 11 ticketing centres across the nine host cities, in 600 FNB brank branches nationwide, at certain sales points, via the FIFA website or by calling a special hotline.

"We are excited about these new initiatives, which make the process much easier for everyone. We have always said that it is important that we make this World Cup more accessible to the people and with the over-the-counter sales, we believe this measure is consistent with the needs of the fans," said Jordaan.

Fans applying at the ticketing centres will be required to display ID and pay by credit card or cash.

A total of 240,000 World Cup tickets were sold in the fourth phase, 85 per cent of which went to South African residents. Overall, 2.2 million out of 3 million tickets have been sold for the tournament.(DPA)