Tickets overhaul promised for 2006
The organisers of World Cup 2006 in Germany have promised a major overhaul of the ticketing system that caused problems in Japan and Korea.
Manchester-based company Byrom had been appointed by FIFA to handle the sale and distribution of tickets.
However, difficulties came to the light in the weeks leading up to the start of the tournament, with many tickets not delivered to supporters in time.
The tickets website then crashed leading to widespread criticism of the whole system at a World Cup otherwise devoid of organisational problems.
Fedor Radmann, vice-president of the Local Organising Committee Germany 2006, said: ‘‘FIFA, as the ruling body, decided at a certain stage to use Byrom.
‘‘We do not have to commend this decision and I guess FIFA had their reasons for this choice.
‘‘But it might not have been so easy using a British-based agency for two countries.
‘‘There will be major changes and we have to discuss this final issue with FIFA as soon as possible.
‘‘I will just assure you that you will see for 2006 a complete working system.’’
Radmann was in Yokohama today, along with other members of the LOC Germany 2006 team, including Franz Beckenbauer, to reveal how plans are developing for the next World Cup.
Fourteen officials from the committee are on a fact-finding mission in the Far East.
And World Cup legend Beckenbauer, president of the LOC Germany 2006, was impressed by what he had seen.
‘‘Before the tournament started there were many rumours and stories that there was no chance of it working over here,’’ he said.
‘‘But now that we have had lots of games, we can see that the organisation is perfect.
‘‘We wanted to see how things worked so we can take home a few lessons.’’
