Second Phase of World Cup Ticket Sales Opens
May 2, 2005The second sales period of tickets for the 2006 World Cup in Germany began on Monday at 12 midday CEST (Central European Summer Time) with the German organizing committee (OK) adopting a policy of 'first come first served'.
The OK revealed that applications for the latest round will be processed in the order they are received. The second period features exclusively TST (Team Specific Ticket) series, available to order through the official website, www.FIFAworldcup.com.
A total of 147,000 TST series initially went on sale in the first sales period which ended on March 31 and proved to be remarkably popular. TST's for Germany, Argentina, Brazil, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the USA were all sold out despite the fact that Germany is the only confirmed team at present.
Tickets only valid if team qualifies
The team tickets are only valid if the team for which the ticket is issued successfully qualifies for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. With worldwide qualifying still in progress, the possibility remains that a favorite team might not qualify. In this case, the reservation will be cancelled and the applicant will receive a refund minus a processing fee.
The TST's allow the supporter to follow their favorite team for a specified number of matches, dependent upon results in the tournament.
There are a number of different team tickets available during this latest phase: TST 3 covers all three group matches, TST 4 includes the round of sixteen, TST 5 the quarter-finals, TST 6 the semi-finals, and TST 7 represents the very best case, covering every game including the Final.
Provisions for every eventuality
The OK has measures in place to cover most eventualities concerning the elimination of a team before the expiry of the specific TST. If the selected team fails to qualify from the group stage, the ticket is automatically transferred to the group winner.
Should the team be knocked out at a later stage and the TST series remains valid for subsequent rounds, the ticket transfers to the nation which eliminated the selected team.
Previously lucky recipients excluded
During this ticket phase, up to four TST series may be ordered per household. However, applicants allocated individual tickets in the first sales period are not permitted to apply for TST series, as the terms and conditions only permit applications for one form of ticket.
In total 2.93 million World Cup tickets are on sale to the general public and a first batch of 812,000 tickets were sold in the first sales period. The latest phase, involving an offering of 200,000 tickets, ends on November 15. The third sales period begins in December 2005 when up to 300,000 individual tickets will be released for sale.