January 31 – There is no let-up in the demand for tickets for Brazil 2014 as the five-time world champions battle against infrastructure delays to stage the tournament for the first time in over half a century.
FIFA said fans requested about 3.5 million tickets during the second World Cup sales phase from 199 countries. The host nation comprises nearly 80% of the demand (2.6 million) for 62 of the 64 matches that were on sale.
Fans from the 32 participating teams still have until February 7 to request tickets via FIFA’s website. Only nationals or residents of the respective team’s country can apply for these.
Successful applicants will be notified following an electronic draw supervised by the Brazilian government officials next month. The subsequent sale phase will begin March 12, offering tickets on a first come, first served basis.
Thierry Weil, FIFA Marketing Director in charge of ticketing, said that demand will massively outstrip supply.
“With a little more than 3 million tickets available at the 12 stadiums, the requests are at least ten times more than the inventory we have available,” he said. “Naturally, this level of demand can cause some disappointment, dissatisfaction and incomprehension among football supporters.
“This is the biggest problem with ticketing for the FIFA World Cup – one we cannot unfortunately solve to everybody’s satisfaction, but it is a great sign of the huge anticipation for the event.”
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