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WORLD football body Fifa is investigating why as many as 8000 fans failed to arrive for Saturday’s clash between Greece and South Korea at the first World Cup match at the R2.1-billion Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The problem appeared to occur for a third straight day yesterday, as the match between two of the tournament’s less glamorous sides – Algeria and Slovenia in Polokwane – kicked off with about a third of seats empty, while Fifa said it was also investigating why there was a block of about 800 seats left open at Friday’s Bafana Bafana match against Mexico at Soccer City.

Only 31513 people attended South Korea’s 2-0 victory at the Bay stadium, which holds 46000 spectators for World Cup games.

But despite “teething problems” with the Eastern Cape’s inaugural World Cup fixture, authorities have described it as a resounding security and logistical feat despite fears the region would not be ready to host the tournament, with no major crimes reported at the weekend.

This is thanks in large part to the unprecedented security force stationed in the Bay since last week for the event, including Interpol officials who arrived on Friday.

They joined special operations officers from the national police force, a bolstered air force, navy and army corps, increased traffic personnel and up to 5000 additional police officers on duty in the city – many of whom were stationed around the stadium in North End and the Fan Fest at St George’s Park.

Yesterday, Fifa announced it was probing why thousands of ticket holders failed to arrive at Saturday’s match, with spokesman Nicolas Maingot saying “it looked like a lot of people did not show up”.

The soccer body is now investigating whether transport and ticket distribution systems failed.

While vuvuzelas blared and drums banged as fans flocked to the stadium to witness South Korea cruise to victory against Greece, some fans were left a little disappointed.

“I had a wonderful day, but there were a couple of experiences I thought we as a city should have been on top of,” said Bay soccer fanatic Scott Keevy, who has tickets to all eight Bay matches.

Keevy set off with family to Saturday’s match from the Fan Fest, hoping to catch a ride with the city’s 2010 World Cup buses.

But after asking 10 designated officials “who had no clue where we should go”, he found 14 buses at Rink Street, the drivers of which also could not direct them to the right bus to the stadium.

“We ended up catching the new R3-million (concertina) bus to Kings Beach, but when we got there we were told to buy a R10 ticket from a taxi nearby, to be able to go to the stadium,” Keevy said.

Keevy was also among the thousands of fans who were left hungry on arrival at the stadium, thanks to a strike by the food and beverage providers which was resolved only at kick-off at 1.30pm.

“I hope these issues can be sorted out before the other matches, because we were left a little disappointed,” he said.

Local Organising Committee chief communications officer Rich Mkhondo apologised yesterday, saying: “The committee is aware that the kiosks were opened later than anticipated.

“The committee apologises for any inconvenience caused and will continue to endeavour to provide the best possible service to spectators at Fifa World Cup matches.”

Despite the hiccups, the heavy security presence ensured the stadium and Fan Fest – which accommodated up to 3500 fans during some matches at the weekend – experienced no major crimes.

The worst incident involving a foreign visitor was the theft of a Korean woman’s handbag from Summerstrand’s Radisson Blu hotel yesterday morning. According to police sources, the woman said she had R50000 and a cellphone in her bag.

Police spokesman Brigadier Marinda Mills was happy with security at the stadium and Fan Fest.

“We had no major incidents reported during the matches, but there were one or two general crime incidents,” she said. Two vehicles had been broken into outside the stadium during the match while 11 motorists were arrested for drunk driving.

“Overall our deployment plan around the stadium and Fan Fest was very successful,” Mills said.

The municipal Rights Protection Team – mandated to enforce by-laws regarding the sale of counterfeit goods, especially those infringing on Fifa’s copyright – confiscated about R90000 of goods from vendors at the weekend.

Meanwhile, the dedicated World Cup courts specially set up to deal with transgressors during the month-long tournament have also been quiet, with administrators reporting they had been able to tackle the backlog of court dockets in the meantime.

Spectators said they were over the moon at the World Cup spectacular finally taking place.

At the stadium on Saturday, it was hard to miss Greek and South Korea fans, decked out in blue and white, and red and white respectively.

As the match kicked off Korean fans dressed in colourful robes circled the stands banging on traditional drums, temporarily drowning out their vuvuzela-blowing comrades.

Among the spectators was Portia Gqozo, 15, from Zwide, who was part of 300 young school pupils from impoverished areas treated to the match by American charity Grassroots Soccer. “I’m so excited,” she said. “It’s like I’m dreaming, being here.”

Many out-of-town and foreign supporters stayed in the Bay over three days, leaving yesterday.

Greek supporter Demetri Ioalnou, of Pretoria, was accompanied by friends and family from his homeland. “It’s disappointing that we lost, but I’m still hopeful we can improve,” he said.

Dennis Kang, who was with 115 Korean supporters from Pretoria, said: “We feel great that we won. Korea played brilliantly. They dominated the game.”

At the Fan Fest, soccer fans told The Herald it was “the next best thing to being at the stadium”, adding they loved the festive atmosphere. Additional reporting by Lynn Shaw and Sapa-AP