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Fans want new ducat deal
FIFA feels pressure to give England more tickets
Posted: Sunday June 28, 1998 10:57 AM
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Many English fans will have to watch the match on TV with so few tickets available (AP) |
LONDON (AP) -- Soccer's world governing body has refused to
increase England's
ticket share for the World Cup match between England and Argentina
despite mounting political pressure. British Sports Minister Tony
Banks Saturday lent government support to the English Football
Association's bid to get FIFA to increase England's ticket allocation for
Tuesday's match. England received 2,049 tickets for the St. Etienne
match -- its smallest allocation to date -- but Banks said England and
Argentina should each have received 10,000 tickets. FIFA
communications director Keith Cooper Sunday refused to yield to pressure
from the FA or the British Government, saying the ticket policy was set in
1995 and exceptions would not be made. "Anyone who had taken the
trouble would have been able to read how this system worked...three years
ago," he said. Cooper said it was impossible to pre-determine which
teams would be playing where in the second round of the orld Cup or
calculate demand for tickets at each of the venues. "While there may
be a huge demand from England, had it been Romania playing
in that particular match there would not have been a huge demand," he said.
"The only way to do this is the way it has been done." The
Football Supporters' Association has slammed both FIFA and the FA in the
wake of the ticket allocation fiasco. FSA spokesman Steve Powell
said the FA should have questioned the ticketing system when it was
released. "Were they paying attention? I don't think so. Did they
care? I don't think so. The interests of the fans, who are fundamental to
the World Cup, are being forgotten," he said.
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