By Mark Trevelyan
Soccer fans who missed out on the official World Cup draws will run a big risk if they buy unauthorized tickets via online auction house Ebay, a German official said on Thursday.
For security reasons, tickets for the month-long tournament starting June 9 are personalized with the buyer's name, and are not transferable except under special circumstances. But that has not stopped a lively market from developing on the Internet.
Asked what advice he would give to a prospective Ebay buyer, German soccer chief Theo Zwanziger said: "I would just warn him he's running a risk. He's going to the stadium under a false name ... and he runs the risk he will be turned away."
He dismissed a reporter's suggestion that stadium officials would in practice only be able to check a small proportion of fans' identities.
"Why are you so sure? We have a lot of stewards on the spot," Zwanziger said.
"If we have indications, firstly that the security situation is critical, and secondly that people are coming to the stadium without officially issued tickets, there will be intensive checks.
"And then those who don't have (official tickets) will be spotted, and they'll have paid a lot of money and they'll be sent home. So I'd advise them to spare themselves the frustration."
On Ebay's German Web site,
World soccer's governing body FIFA has criticized the German organizers over the ticketing arrangements, with president Sepp Blatter expressing concern last week that ID checks would lead to excessive queues and could mean there are many empty seats.
Zwanziger told a conference in Berlin: "We did it because we believe this is an additional security factor."
He added that the organizers could have charged 50 percent more for all tickets and still sold out, but had kept prices reasonable because "we have a responsibility to the fans."
Separately, Germany's organizing committee announced on Thursday that
42,495 tickets had been returned by their holders for resale. The tickets were returned by FIFA from various federations that did not use sell their full allotted amount.Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at