U.S., England Lead World Cup Ticket Buying

Foreign buyers are making up the vast majority of ticket holders for 2010 World Cup Games. U.S. and England are home to the main buyers. Tickets are being released for sale on a staggered schedule, but in the month since the first release, available tickets are already sold out for 28 of the tournament's 64 games.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said following an executive committee meeting Friday that at least 28 of the 64 matches for next year's tournament have sold out, and close to 800,000 tickets have been sold.

On a separate note, countries planning to bid on future World Cups will also face new limitations.

At the executive committee meeting, FIFA decided to limit lobbying by candidates to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Bid teams can have three accredited people attend the FIFA Congress on June 2-3 in the Bahamas and three tournaments being played in Africa this year — the Confederations Cup, the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt and the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria. Bidders may not mount exhibitions until the 2010 FIFA Congress in South Africa.

The United States, England, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Qatar, Russia and South Korea are bidding, plus joint candidates Belgium-Netherlands and Spain-Portugal. The 24-man executive committee will vote in December 2010.

Source:
England, US leading World Cup ticket buyers
Associated Press
March 20, 2009