"Tickets, any spare tickets?"
- 22 May 06, 12:23 PM
LONDON - The number of tickets for England supporters for their World Cup matches has been stirring up fans' consternation since allocation day. They have just eight per cent - that's around 4,000-5,000 - at each group game. Meanwhile, the sponsor companies share 500,000 for the tournament - one sixth of the total tickets.
About 100,000 England fans are expected to travel Germany to soak up the atmosphere - but mostly they'll be doing that outside the ground. So the has launched a to protest.
It accepts that sponsors contribute cash to the game, but as the federation's Alan Bloore puts it: "I know a lad who follows England abroad, but he hasn't got one ticket. Yet somebody could go and buy a beer, burger or cola and get a ticket for an England match. I'll argue black and blue that it's wrong."
If you've missed out on tickets so far, maybe the last-gasp chance to go through sponsors' promotions is a good thing? If not, there's always the petition, bound for when it's complete.
LONDON - Nick raised some questions in reply to 
