The South African home affairs department has announced today (December 23rd) that it will be issuing new 'event visas' to help get fans into the country for its two major upcoming tournaments.
With the country set to host the Confederations Cup in 2009 and the World Cup in 2010, immigration officials will be placed at airports all around the world to issue the visas.
These fans will then be allowed to go straight through to baggage reclaim on arrival in South Africa, while anyone deemed to be an "undesirable" will not be permitted to enter.
The department's 2010 programme manager Morne Fourie was quoted by Shine2010 as saying: "You need proof of purchase of your ticket for the match, you need to meet certain health requirements - like holding a yellow fever certificate, if required - and you need to have a return ticket and a valid passport."
The immigration officers will also have electrical scanning equipment to process travellers' documents, meaning they could be able to better the average interaction time of between one and one-and-a-half minutes.
The South African national football team is nicknamed 'Bafana Bafana'.
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21 October 2010
21 October 2010
21 October 2010
20 October 2010
20 October 2010
