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GENEVA, Switzerland -- Tickets for the 2008 European Championship finals were 30 times oversubscribed after seats went on sale in the first round of applications, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Monday. The huge demand means the second round of sales -- initially planned to allocate unsold tickets on a first come, first served basis in June -- has been abandoned and will be replaced by a lottery. Almost 600,000 fans from 142 countries had ordered 10.4 million tickets when the deadline expired on March 31 -- 18 times more than for the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal and almost as many as for last year's World Cup in Germany. The applicants are competing for just 350,000 tickets, a third of the total that were available in the first round, and will be distributed using a lottery system in mid-April. The random draw will be held under the supervision of legal officials, and fans should know the outcome by the end of this month, the Euro 2008 SA organizers said. All of the applications will be checked before they enter the lottery to prevent black market sales and for security vetting, said spokesman Wolfgang Eichler. "This is mainly to see if there are false applications or not. There are also hooligan databases involved, to find if people are registered there," he said. The last chance to find a seat at Euro 2008 will be early next year, when another 399,000 tickets will be sold through the national associations of the 16 teams that eventually qualify for the finals. On average each nation will be allocated 19 percent of the seats available in the matches they play. ReservedThe remaining tickets are reserved for participating national soccer associations, official sponsors, VIPs, special guests, host cities and stadium owners. With qualifying matches underway, co-hosts Austria and Switzerland are the only countries so far guaranteed a place in the tournament. Ticket applications have come in from around the world, including Australia, China, El Salvador and Uganda. Euro 2008 kicks off in Basel on June 7, 2008, with games also being staged in Geneva, Berne, Zurich, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Klagenfurt and Vienna, where the final is scheduled for June 29. Coach Otto Rehhagel gets his hands on the trophy after Greece's 2004 triumph. FOOTBALL MAILBAG
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