Construction workers at all the 2010 Soccer World Cup stadiums are guaranteed two free tickets each to the soccer matches, The Star reported on Thursday.

Workers await the arrival of FIFA President Sepp Blatter at Cape Town's Green Point stadium September 15, 2008. Blatter is in the country visiting stadia to check on progress for soccer World Cup 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters]

The decision was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Wednesday, hours before he left the country after his four-day visit.

"I have good news for the workers. We have decided, with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), to offer about 20,000 workers two free tickets (each) to the stadiums where they are working," Blatter said at Johannesburg's Coca-Cola Park.

"It's a merit to the workers in recognition of their work in preparing for 2010," he said.

The tickets will form part of the 120,000 bulk free tickets to be given to South African residents in 2010, a decision announced by FIFA during the 2010 preliminary draw in Durban last year.

The decision came a day after a LOC board meeting agreed that the cheapest World Cup ticket would be 140 rand (20 U.S. dollars).

Tickets for the World Cup will be sold from January, 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2008)