World Cup planners ready for tout battle


China has qualified for the World Cup for the first time ever, which is expected to draw a throng of fans

By Alex Frew McMillan
CNN Hong Kong

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Organizers of next year's World Cup soccer tournament are bracing for a drawn-out fight with touts and scalpers looking to make big yen and won selling tickets on the black market.

The host countries, Japan and South Korea, say they're doing what they can to make sure tickets stay in the hands of legitimate fans paying face value to see games.

But in trying to curb black-market sales, organizers are making it more difficult for fans to get tickets. They're also cutting out travel agencies, who expect to gain little out of next June's tournament.

Avoiding a repeat of France

The organizing committees in both countries, as well as soccer's world governing body, FIFA, are keen to avoid a repeat of the last World Cup, held in France.

During the 1998 tournament, many tickets were sold through travel agencies. Prices skyrocketed, and fans complained they had to skip the games.

This time, tickets are being sold only through FIFA and the organizers: JAWOC, the Japan World Cup Organizing Committee, and KOWOC, the Korean World Cup Organizing Committee.

Tickets will bear the buyer's name, and spectators will have to show identification when they get to the ground for the match.

"FIFA and both organizing committees have been trying to provide a chance for the real fans to buy a ticket at the base value, and that they actually watch the game," said Choi Beom-seok, who overseas international marketing for the Korean organizers.

"It's a bit of an inconvenience, I admit, because you might not know in advance who you'll go with," Choi said. Or plans might change.

Rules only likely to tighten

But this is the best solution the organizers could come up with to make sure fans get the real price, he said.

The security may deter hooligans, and it has also taken on new significance at a time when concerns about terrorism are at a high, he added. So the rules are only likely to get tougher.

"This restriction is important, especially after the World Trade Center terror. For security reasons, they will be tightened," Choi said. Organizers are also mulling a ban on alcohol at games.

Demand for tickets has yet to reach fever pitch. So far, only three teams -- the host nations, who always play at home, and champions France, who open the tournament on May 31 in South Korea -- know where they'll be playing.

Sales have been buoyant in South Korea and Japan, which at 126.5 million has over twice as many people as Korea. Tickets to games like the quarterfinals in Osaka have been oversubscribed by a ratio of 73-to-1.

Stream of Chinese

The countries are splitting 1.35 million tickets, with FIFA selling another 1.5 million tickets. Around 200,000 will go free to guests.

The rest of the footballing world is waiting for the draw on December 1. Only then will fans find out where their national teams will be and when.

Qualifying is still wrapping up. But many of the world's top soccer nations, including Argentina, England, Italy, Nigeria and Spain, are already in.

The clamor for tickets is only expected to get louder now that the world's most populous nation, China, has qualified for the first time. The country has waited since 1957, and half a million fans came out in China just to celebrate qualification on Sunday.

Korean organizers expect a large number of soccer-hungry Chinese tourists given their proximity to Korea, and that could become a flood if the national team ends up there.

But it won't be easy for them, or other fans, to get tickets, particularly if they just show up. Both committees say they're working with FIFA to stop tickets from being traded or resold.

"People who do not have tickets will be by no means allowed to enter venue stadiums … [as a] strict body check and property control will be implemented," JAWOC spokeswoman Satoko Nakae wrote in an e-mail.

JAWOC is following FIFA's lead in putting names on tickets and checking IDs "for the purposes of preventing the outflow of tickets to the black market, and ensuring that tickets will not be given to violent fans," she said

Travel agencies shut out

Still, scalpers have been asking for as much as 400,000 yen ($3,300) for tickets in Japan via online sales. That's 30 times the face value.

Tickets in Korea average around 200,000 won ($154), though they can be as low as 66,000 won ($51). FIFA's tickets are generally sold in packages, around $200 for three games.

FIFA admits there will never be enough tickets to go around. It hopes the restrictions will cut back on the black market sales. But the system is sure to leave fans frustrated when they miss the bidding, or miss out.

The situation has also angered travel agencies. Despite the anticipated massive throng of tourists to Japan and South Korea, they stand to gain little.

Agencies can't arrange ticket packages. So they can help only independent travelers with their own tickets make hotel reservations. Even the official hotel reservations go through a contractor.

"There's no opportunity for making money," complained Hiroshi Ueno, manager of public relations for Japan's largest travel agency, JTB Corp. "We lose."

Even the one opportunity they have to cash in may evaporate because hotels are filling up with official visitors.

"The situation of the hotel accommodation while the World Cup is being held will be very tight," Ueno explained. "So whether we can help or not, I don't know."