Fifa increase number of tickets for fans at 2010 World Cup
Fifa plan to increase the amount of tickets for ordinary fans
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Wednesday, 09, Jul 2008 09:53
Fifa plan to increase the number of tickets available to ordinary fans by 50 per cent for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Currently fans from nations that have qualified for the tournament get around eight per cent of the total tickets available for a group match at the World Cup.
Fifa says it wants to increase this to 12 per cent in time for the tournament in South Africa.
This increase is for tickets that are distributed via the national associations of the teams involved in each match, while tickets will still be made available to the public via Fifa themselves.
However, Fifa has confirmed the allocation of tickets to national associations will return to eight per cent in the knockout phase of the competition.
David Will, chairman of the ticketing sub-committee for the World Cup, claims the new system will help keep tickets off the black market.
He said: "We have always been criticised for too many tickets going to the fat cats but we are confident that at least 80 percent in 2010 will go to the general public.
"We have tried to simplify the system for the customer and help restrict the possibility for the parallel market."
A new system for collecting tickets will also be introduced. Instead of being sent tickets by post fans will pre-book their sets and then collect them from special centres in South Africa using their credit cards.
"It is in much the same way as you book a movie ticket by phone or online these days using your credit card and then when you get there you access your ticket through an ATM-type machine," explained Will.
Will believes the changes will help simplify arrangements for fans.