Commentary
German Policies Could Lead to World Cup Ticketing Problems
By Christopher Barton
May 12, 2006
Will the ticket situation be a mess?
Going to the World Cup this summer? The make sure you read the following before you set out on your trip of a lifetime, since the reason you are going is to see the finest soccer in the world, and it would be very easy for you to miss some or even all of the action.
Given the efficiency of Germans in just about everything else, the plan for admission to the 12 World Cup venues is mind-boggling and makes it necessary to be absolutely prepared for the journey.
As of the beginning of May, the World Cup organizing committee in Germany is still insisting that in order to gain entry to a stadium, each attendee will be required to show appropriate identity papers and a ticket with their name on it.
Fans already facing a long wait to go through security now have the additional task of proving their identity and ticket ownership right before making it inside the turnstile. Some experts fear that the result will be half empty stadiums at kick-off as some fans are left at the gate still trying to make it through the lines and others are denied entry altogether.
Even more curious than the plan outlined above is the reaction of FIFA, the all-knowing governing body of football who now meekly says that they have no control over the situation. FIFA God Sepp Blatter says he has met with several German leaders to no avail, and will even try the new Prime Minister in the next week in an attempt to bring sanity to the process.
Chances are his pleas will be on deaf ears since the Germans claim that to provide adequate security they have to know the identity of every person entering the stadium. Did anyone ever believe that any person, organization or even country would say no to Sepp Blatter?
Imagine what happens to all those fans who have purchased their tickets on Ebay or through a ticket broker. Think there is a possibility that one or more fans will return from Europe without having entered a stadium and sue the person who provided then the tickets they could not use? Or maybe, before they even return, what about the possibility of on-site riots by ticket holders denied access to the stadium?
Truth be told, the bet among many is that this system will be abandoned shortly after the first day or two of the tournament, when all hell will likely have broken loose around the German and English games. Perhaps the modification will require fans to show identification, but not require a match to the tickets. Or perhaps the Germans will really stick to their guns, and take their chances with a Hindenburg-like disaster.
Can't wait for the fun to start!