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Tickets hard to come by Unprecedented enthusiasm among fans
Posted: Saturday June 19, 1999 02:57 PM
LONDON (AP) -- The boisterous fans who turned the World Cup into a carnival are struggling to make it to the final. With organizers saying 90 percent of the tickets for Sunday's Pakistan-Australia showdown were sold months ago, hundreds of fans searching for tickets wandered the streets around Lord's on Saturday hoping for a lucky break. Or a scalper. James Smith, a 29-year-old medical student from Melbourne, bought a 60-pound (US$96) ticket from a tout for 120 pounds (US$192). His friend, Roger Mason, has been promised a ticket by an Indian friend. They said if they don't get another ticket they will have to get rid of the one they've got and park themselves in a bar nearby. "We will have a beer in a pub near the ground and watch the action on TV," Smith said. Javed Sheikh, who came from Rawalpindi two months ago to watch the World Cup, has been able to watch all Pakistan matches on the day of the game after the match has started. "But here I don't see many chances," he said. "I will pay whatever I can." Salim Ahmed, a trader from Manchester, and Parvez Shahez, a fashion student in London, bought two tickets -- 100 pound (US$160) for 180 pounds (US$288) and 60 for 140 (US$224). They are trying to swap one of the tickets so that they can sit together. Of the 41 games played so far, those involving Pakistan and India have been the most noisy with fans sounding horns, banging drums, setting off fireworks and invading the field at the end. With Pakistan making it to the final, thousands of its followers hoped to be there too. But the ticketing arrangements, done well in advance, have made that very difficult. Although many Indian and Pakistani fans managed to get hold of tickets for their Super Six confrontation at Old Trafford, it won't be so easy here because most people with tickets for the final will want to be there even if their own teams have been knocked out. Tickets for the final are a goldmine but few who possess them are biting the bait as yet. But fans are confident that scalpers, known here as touts who normally crowd the passage to the ground from the St. John's Wood subway station, would be around on Sunday morning. The resale of tickets is banned but, unless things become rowdy, security personnel turn a blind eye to tickets swapping hands. The bulk of the tickets were sold a year ago and the organizers don't think many would give them away just because their country did not qualify for the final. This could result in the galleries being packed with neutral spectators and the fervent supporters of the two countries would be left out of the stadium that can accommodate 30,000 spectators. Arshan Khan, a Pakistani cook, said he was willing to spend his weekly wage to witness the match, but just could not afford to pay for the tickets one year in advance. "I want to join the party at Lord's, the ticket's cost is irrelevant," he said. "The drums and the fireworks will be something I can tell my grandchildren about." Even if he manages a ticket, Khan may be disappointed there as well. The organizers are determined to keep the firecrackers out of the final. Spectators have been warned that those letting off the fireworks will be thrown out of the ground.
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