World Cup tickets soar online
(Reuters )
Updated: 2006-05-24 09:49 Online bids for individual
tickets to the July 9 final in Berlin ran into thousands of dollars.
The highest amount offered for two "category 2" tickets was 4,343 euros
($7,395) on Germany's eBay auction portal compared with the official price of
720 euros.
Fans are willing to pay such vast amounts even though tournament organisers
have warned that they risk being turned away at the stadiums.
For security reasons, tickets for the month-long tournament starting on June
9 are personalised with the buyer's name and are not transferable except under
special circumstances.
The seller explained that the tickets would have to be officially transferred
into the name of the winner.
"I won these tickets in a lottery. They still have to be personalised - in
your name and that of one more person. Absolutely serious and without risk," the
seller declared.
Another pair of final tickets had a top bid of 3,577 euros.
On the other side of the world, South Korea's preparations for the tournament
suffered a setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Senegal in a friendly in
Seoul.
In the first of the Asian country's four warm-up matches before the World
Cup, Kim Do-heon's 74th minute strike was cancelled out five minutes later by
Moussa Ndiaye's equaliser.
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