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Germany challenges tickets sales for World Cup
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-02 10:48 Germany's consumer association launched a legal
challenge on Thursday against the conditions under which some tickets for next
year's World Cup finals are being sold.
The complaint concerns fans who applied in November to be placed on a waiting
list for anticipated returns.
People with their
faces painted in the colours of countries qualified for the 2006 World Cup
sit in attendance as Austrian artist Andre Heller presents in Berlin
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005, his team for the performance gala at the start
of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Tickets ranging between 100 euro (US$
118) and 750 euro ($US 883) went on sale Wednesday for the two-hour show
on June 7 at Berlin's Olympiastadion that will kick off soccer's
month-long showcase.[AP] |
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The association complains that applicants have to pay in advance without
knowing whether they will get a ticket and are automatically charged a five euro
($5.89) service fee whether successful or not.
It also says that unsuccessful applicants will get their money back only
after the World Cup.
The consumer body has asked a court in Frankfurt to make the German Football
Association (DFB) adjust the conditions.
It said that the DFB had not revised its conditions by a certain deadline and
that a DFB offer of talks was unacceptable.
"We want to ensure that fans mainly experience excitement over the World Cup
rather than frustration about ticket allocations," Patrick von Braunmuehl, the
consumer association's deputy head, said in a statement.
World Cup organising committee vice president Horst Schmidt said he regretted
the challenge, but said he was untroubled by it. He argued the organisers were
simply giving fans a further chance to buy tickets.
He added organisers responded to reasonable criticism, but this was neither
sound nor constructive.
"It cannot be ruled out that some will try to use the prominent platform that
the 2006 World Cup offers for their own purposes," Schmidt said.
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