EU Probes World Cup Ticket Fees

They are not just the hottest tickets in town; they are probably the hottest in the world. The World Cup is just seven months away and fans from around the globe -- certainly more than the 2.93 million tickets available -- are anxiously waiting to see whether they will receive one of the desired tickets.

The world soccer body FIFA has hardly won friends amongst soccer supporters with its ticket sales practices since a lottery process for tickets started in February 2005.

For the latest drawing, which has been underway since Nov. 2, FIFA has been asking for a non-refundable fee of five euros ($6) -- just to get on the waiting list. The practice of charging for a service -- namely the sale of a ticket -- that cannot even be guaranteed didn't go unnoticed by European parliamentarians, including German Liberal Democrat Otto Graf Lambsdorff. He and his Dutch peer Toine Manders complained, and now the European Commission has decided to look into the matter.

"The issue has been brought to our attention," Commission competition spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters. "We don't yet have any conclusions. We are actively pursuing the matter."

Abuse of ticket monopoly

Potential spectators to games at the 12 venues around Germany must pay the non-refundable fee as well as the full price of the tickets months ahead of the February 2006 draw. Should they lose the lottery, the ticket money will be refunded. Nevertheless, the length of time from payment to refund angers European lawmakers.

"This means that rejected applicants will not have access to their own money for several months," Toine Manders told the Associated Press.

European parliamentarian Andre Brie, who had already brought the matter into the light at the beginning of November, described the charges as being like an interest-free loan for FIFA.

"We never thought about making interest (off the money)," said Organizing Committee Vice President Horst Schmidt in response to Brie's charge.

Ticket sales controversial from beginning

FIFA and the German Organizing Committee have been under fire almost since the time World Cup tickets first started going on sale.

In order to guarantee the safety of the 64 games that will be played from June 9 to July 9 next year, FIFA demanded basic personal information be included on tickets. The measures were slammed by data protection groups. The organizers also faced criticism over their lack of flexibility in allowing tickets to be transferred to others if the original ticket-holder decided not to go attend matches.

Some critics have said the 2006 World Cup was turning into a stage for corporate sponsors rather than for the teams or the supporters. In May, the European Commission forced the organizers to change their ticket sales system, which had previously granted holders of Mastercard, a World Cup sponsor, lower ticket fees if they paid with the red and yellow plastic card.