On the eve of the first sales period, Organising Committee senior vice-president Horst R. Schmidt tackles the major issue of ticketing.
Horst R. Schmidt, With 500 days to go before the 2006 FIFA World Cup™,
wholesale jerseys, everyone's talking about ticketing,
cheap jerseys, probably the hottest topic in the run up to the tournament. In your role as OC senior vice-president, what's your take on the public's reaction to the ticketing plans as we approach the start of sales on 1 February?
First off, we're obviously delighted that the overwhelming passion and enthusiasm for the World Cup is producing an immense demand for match tickets. The reactions I've heard so far have been level-headed and fair, I think. Of course every single one of us wishes we had more tickets, but I'm encouraged at the way most people understand we're caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to splitting the tickets into various quotas.
Many people are asking about personalisation. Is there any possibility of transferring tickets to another person?
The tickets are fundamentally non-transferable. However, in certain special cases such as marriage, death, or serous illness within a family it will be possible to transfer the right of admission to a 2006 FIFA World Cup match with the prior approval of the OC or the authorised ticket agents. But we still need to maintain personalisation. The tickets look like airline tickets, and the similarity doesn't end there. The question of transferability is comparable. If a ticket is assigned to someone else,
cheap jerseys, you print a new ticket in the new name,
cheap authentic nfl jerseys, which is how it works with airline tickets.
How late can people leave it before returning or reassigning tickets?
We're looking into this at the moment. We need to run more checks on the chip technology before establishing how close to a match we can still agree to tickets being transferred.
On the subject of the embedded chip, federal government data protection authorities have highlighted potential legal pitfalls with the demand for personal data,
wholesale authentic jerseys, and especially giving a passport or ID card number, when purchasing FIFA World Cup tickets. Can you comment on that?
We joined FIFA in consultations with the European Commission, the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection and the data protection authorities to establish the legal framework for ticket sales. We basically need the data to prevent forgeries and eliminate touting. Every hotel guest has to give these personal details. The focus here at the OC remains firmly on the fans. A fan resident in Japan has every right to purchase a TST series for Brazil, for example. We have to collect some essential data in order to keep things running smoothly.
You have been closely involved in organising every FIFA World Cup finals since 1974, with ticketing one of your specialist areas. Is the 2006 FIFA World Cup the toughest assignment you've ever faced in this respect?
As FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi reported at the presentation of our ticketing concept, we're likely to see the highest-ever global demand for World Cup match tickets. That certainly presents a unique challenge,
wholesale jerseys free shipping, but FIFA and the OC have built on the experience of previous tournaments to establish standards enabling us to tackle the problem head on. In this context I think the excellent agreement struck by FIFA and TV rights holder Infront regarding nationwide Public Viewing is a very welcome development. These open-air broadcasts on giant screens will prove a popular alternative and offer a degree of compensation to fans who miss out on tickets.
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