South Korea Scraps Plans to Sell Domestic World Cup Tickets to China, Japan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 28, 2001

South Korea Scraps Plans to Sell Domestic World Cup Tickets to China, Japan

South Korea's World Cup organizing committee scrapped plans Thursday to sell tickets allotted to domestic fans to supporters from China and Japan.

South Korea's World Cup organizing committee scrapped plans Thursday to sell tickets allotted to domestic fans to supporters from China and Japan.

On December 2, the organizers asked FIFA, soccer's world governing body, to allow them to sell some unsold domestic tickets to China and Japan, where ticket demand remains high.

In a news release Thursday, the committee said it has decided to withdraw that request because ticket sales to domestic fans have picked up since the December 1 draw for the tournament.

"All the tickets allocated for domestic sale will be sold in Korea, now that ticket sales in Korea have picked up sharply since the final draw," the release said.

South Korea has so far sold 570,000, or 77 percent, of the 742,000 tickets allotted to domestic fans.

With over 1,000 tickets sold every day, the committee said it was confident it would be able to sell the remaining 170,000 tickets for the tournament.

As co-hosts, South Korea and Japan together were allocated about half of the 3 million tickets available for the tournament that runs from May 31 to June 30.

Next year's World Cup is the first to be held in Asia. As co-hosts, South Korea and Japan will equally split 64 matches.

South Korea Proposes Selling World Cup Tickets to China, Japan