Blatter was more upbeat about the stadiums' progress than on prior visits

The move was announced by Fifa president Sepp Blatter at the end of his four-day visit to the host country.

There are more than 20,000 workers employed at the 10 sites of the stadiums being built or renovated for the tournament.

Fifa announced that each one of the workers will receive two tickets.

That amounts to a third of the allocation of the 120,000 free tickets earlier allocated for South Africans "who have contributed to the success of the 2010 Fifa World Cup and who could otherwise not afford to be part of this historic event".

Blatter was in the country to inspect the progress of the construction of the host venues, which are set to cost around $1.2bn.

Despite having previously been critical of the progress of construction at the sites, he said it would be a "magnificent event".

He did, however, reserve his criticism for the host nation's team, saying he was disappointed with the recent performances of the Bafana Bafana.

He also urged the South Africans to step up their advertising and publicity campaign.