World Cup Tickets: If the official slogan of the 2006 World Cup is 'a time to make friends' judging by the ticket-selling activity going on at internet auction sites it's a time to make a considerable profit too.
And, presumably, now that the World Cup draw has been made and supporters will actually know where and when their countries are playing, the prices for those tickets will soar.
Back in April the World Cup organizing committee threatened legal action against the German eBay site after tickets appeared for auction within hours of them being sold in the first round of official sales. While the most expensive official ticket is 600 - a category one ticket for the final - some of the cheaper tickets were fetching over 1,000 on eBay.
The threat of legal action was, though, never followed up, although the UK eBay site is legally obliged to remove sales of tickets for games involving England which, for security reasons, cannot be sold by unauthorised agents.
While tickets purchased through official channels are non-transferable, there is probably a greater chance of Togo winning the World Cup than there is of stopping the black market sales.
The committee has tried to frighten off supporters buying tickets in this manner by warning them that they risk not being allowed in to stadiums because each ticket bears the name of the purchaser.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, however, warned the Germans off such strict ticketing controls. "They are a little too much, the perfectionists," he said of the hosts, "if everyone has to show their papers it will take four hours before spectators are in the stadium."
The third lottery for the distribtion of tickets starts on December 12th when approximately 300,000 tickets will be available. Applications, through www.FIFAworldcup.com, will be accepted until January 15th and a lottery to determine the successful applicants will be held on January 31th.
In total, 2.9 million tickets, divided into four categories, are being sold for the World Cup over five rounds. After the third round the next sales period will take place between February 15th and April 15th, with the final round - if there are any tickets left - beginning on May 1st and continuing through to the end of the tournament.
Tickets prices range from 35 to 600, although there is always the option of buying a private Sky Box, for between 10 and 20 people - which includes seats with a perfect view of the game, a private dining area overlooking the pitch, an open bar and "an exclusive culinary experience with quality, flavour and creativity accompanied with fine wines".
The price? A snip at 336,000 for the World Cup final.
