RIO DE JANEIRO: FIFA and the local organisers, which had been expected to announce details of World Cup ticket prices yesterday, will now not do so until July 19 writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

FIFA has denied indications from local organisers that a delay had been considered expedient until more dust had settled after the street unrest of the last fortnight.

The world federation caught one damaging backlash last week after the French company Taittinger did not consult it in advance over an insensitively-timed announcement of a deal to become the ‘champagne of the World Cup.’

Details about pricing are now scheduled for July 19, according to secretary-general Jerome Valcke, with sales due to begin on August 20.

He said: “We wanted to look at all the issues we have faced in the Confederations Cup. For example, we want to avoid that we have 10,000 tickets still waiting to be collected two days before a game.”

Valcke added there was unlikely to be a significant difference from pricing in South Africa in 2010 which ranged between £15 for local residents to £650.

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