ZURICH: Within the first four hours of the opening of the last sales phase, 126,837 tickets were requested by football fans from around the world for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ via FIFA.com – 80,496 from Brazilians nationals (63.4pc) and 46,341 from international football fans.

The top 10 nationalities, by tickets successfully allocated, were: Brazil, USA, Colombia, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, France, England, Chile and Australia. Tickets are still available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Only credit and Visa debit cards have been accepted in this phase – there is no option to pay with a Boleto. Visa is the preferred payment method of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is important to ensure that ticket buyers have enough funds for their respective payment method.

Fans can already transfer or submit tickets for re-sale for guests directly from their FIFA.com ticketing accounts. The requests can be made until the end of the day (19:00 Brasília time) three full days prior to the start of the relevant match. Those who have purchased Venue Series Tickets (“VSTs”) or Team Specific Ticket Series (“TSTs”) may only submit the entire VSTs or TSTs series for a ticket transfer (and not any parts thereof). There is no guarantee that returned tickets will be resold.

If a ticket purchaser wants to transfer a discounted ticket to a different guest, he/she may only do so to people eligible for the same concession type (i.e elderly, students or Bolsa Família beneficiaries). The main applicant ticket cannot be transferred. In case a ticket has been successfully re-sold, the buyer will receive a refund based on the face value price paid, less a resale handling fee of 10%. There are no fees applicable to guest transfers. For additional information, please refer to the transfer and resale policy available on FIFA.com.

The FIFA Venue Ticketing Centres in all the 2014 FIFA World Cup Host Cities will be open as of 18 April 2014 at 12h (local time) for ticket pick-up only. For the first three weeks, they will be available for the public only from Friday to Sunday (with the exception of Brasilia and Porto Alegre, which will not open before early May). Information on the FIFA Venue Ticketing Centres opening hours and location can be found at FIFA.com. Fans also have the option to schedule an appointment via FIFA.com to collect their tickets.

Fans who are entitled to receive a discount must bring their proof of eligibility to the Ticketing Centre in order to pick up the tickets. Disabled customers must bring a medical certificate. All fans collecting must carry their ticket purchase confirmation and the photo ID/passport used for the purchase.

Tickets can also be purchased over the counter at designated FIFA Venue Ticketing Centres but only from 1 June 2014 to 13 July 2014.

Further information: official website www.FIFA.com/tickets. 

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