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FIFA Urged to Re-Think World Cup Ticket Allocation

World Cup sponsors are allocated too many tickets, an England supporter's group said, telling FIFA it should take action to ensure that more tickets are reserved for fans in the future. "The percentage of tickets going to sponsors was equivalent to twice the number of tickets going to fans which we all found completely unacceptable," said Mark Perryman, leader of the England Supporter's Group. It turns out each country was allocated eight percent of the available tickets for its matches while corporate sponsors were given almost 19 percent. Up to 80,000 England supporters traveled to Germany for each of the nation team's games, but it's no surprise that most fans had to buy tickets on the black market. FIFA claims that many of the tickets allocated to sponsors were redistributed to genuine fans through competitions and promotions. Perryman said the best way to distribute tickets is through each national soccer association; in England, the FA uses a system whereby fans earn caps for attending England matches. Fans with the most caps get top priority for matches when tickets are scarce. Ticketing problems aside, Perryman said Germany did an excellent job hosting the World Cup.

Read the whole story at Reuters UK »

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