KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING: Brazilian fans provided record support for the Confederations Cup – despite all the street unrest – and the prospect of further protests has not prevented that pattern is being repeated ahead of next year’s main event, the 2014 World Cup itself.

Ticket sales opened yesterday with more than one million applications worldwide being generated in the first seven hours. Registrations for Germany alone added up to orders for 500,000 orders in 16 hours.

Roll up, roll up! All roads lead to Rio . . .

The initial rush was four times higher than that for South Africa 2010 which saw 216,000 applications in the first 24 hours and twice for Germany 2006 (500,000 in 16 hours).

In Brazil the Opening Match at the yet-to-be-completed Itaquera Arena in Sao Paulo on June 12 was the most in-demand individual match with more than 168,000 applications. Brazilians submitted 165,000 requests for the final in Maracana.

Brazil in demand

Other high demand matches were the semi-finals in Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo, as well as all of Brazil’s first-round matches.

In 2006, 20m requests were made for the estimated 3bn tickets available – a ratio of nearly seven fans for each ticket. If demand for 2014 continues at the present rate, the proportion can could 14 per ticket.

The sale of tickets for the 2006 World Cup began in February 2005, some 16 months ahead of the finals. On the first day, 70,000 fans from 108 coutnries expressed an interest.

For South Africa 2010 , this number increased to 128 in the first 24 hours, with South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Brazil were among the countries with most requests. According to FIFA, the South African World Cup registered 1.9m tickets sold with a significant number sold during the tournament. For the 2014 World Cup, the five countries with the highest amount of requests so far are Brazil, Argentina, US, Chile and England.

The first phase of sales ended on October 10 after which a random draw will sort out lucky applicants. The sales of the leftover tickets will begin on 5 November on a first-come, first-served basis.

A second stage runs from December 8 – after the finals draw – until January 30. The final period will be from February 26 to April 1, 2014.

Price range

Around 3.3m tickets are available, ranging in in price from £58 for first round matches to £632 for the final. Brazilian citizens over 60, local students and members of social welfare programs can purchase tickets in a specially-reserved 500,000-ticket category for £15.

Each applicant can request for up to four tickets for a maximum of seven matches.

A FIFA statement in response to initial sales said: “The respective ticket product is already heavily oversubscribed and therefore, at that point in time, the success of the application appears very unlikely.

“There are vastly more ticket applicants seeking tickets than there are tickets presently available for the general public.”

Nearly 800,000 fans attended the Confederations Cup in Brazil in June with ticket sales easily surpassing those for the warm-up tournament in South Africa in 2009 and in Germany in 2005.

FIFA STATEMENT:

On the first day of ticket sales for football’s flagship event, over one million tickets were requested through more than 163,000 applicatants within the first seven hours of ticket sales for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. Brazil, Argentina, USA, Chile and England currently top the charts as the five countries with the highest amount of applications so far.

The opening match at the Arena de Sao Paulo (more than 168,000) and the Final at Maracana in Rio de Janeiro (more than 165,000) have been by far the most popular tickets. Football fans have until 10 October 2013 to apply for tickets during this first sales period.

During this first sales period, fans may apply for tickets for the FIFA World Cup regardless of their application date within this time period. All requests will be amalgamated at the end of the phase and processed together. If the number of requests received per product and category exceeds the number of tickets available, a lottery will be held to determine the successful applicants.

Additional information about the application process is available through the Ticketing Fan Guide on FIFA.com, please the link below:

 

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