World Cup 2006: Online sale of tickets kicks off

Tickets for the Fifa World Cup 2006 have today gone on sale online, sparking a clamour among football fans to enter the lottery for the in-demand tickets while raising fresh fears relating to crowd safety and leading to criticism of one major sponsor.

Perhaps most controversial aspect is the fact that fans applying for tickets will only be able to buy tickets if they have a MasterCard credit card. All other types of card are invalid for the sale due to MasterCard's role as sponsor.

The tickets are going on sale almost 18 months ahead of the kick-off in Germany and so far only one competing team, the hosts, is known. Despite this, 812,000 tickets went on sale first thing this morning meaning it will be almost impossible to guarantee segregation at the matches.

However, in the past tickets have been sold on a similar basis for events such as the European Championships, with little crowd trouble arising. The seats currently available will be in mixed areas of the grounds, while dedicated areas for specific groups of fans will be sold once groups and fixtures have been confirmed.

One England fan who has bought tickets through the lottery system at major tournaments told silicon.com the random nature of the online ballot can actually make the tournaments far more enjoyable as fans get to mix and watch players and teams they don't normally follow.

However, he had little time for the decision to block non-MasterCard cardholders.

"If anything this reflects very badly on MasterCard and Fifa. It's not exactly in keeping with the 'sport for all' ideal is it," he said.

A money transfer option, which incurs £30 costs, is available, but unlikely to prove attractive due to the extra cost.

The early sale may be a reaction to falling attendances at football matches, as witnessed with poor turnouts for a number of matches in Portugal for Euro 2004.

Despite empty seats at that tournament, Horst R Schmidt, senior vice president of the organising committee, said: "Sales via the internet worked very well at Euro 2004. Ninety-six per cent of the available tickets were sold this way. Anyone without their own internet connection should enlist the help of friends and family and apply using this method, because it's the simplest way."

The first round of ticket sales will work as a lottery rather than being allocated on a first come-first-served basis. Fans will find out whether they have been successful after the ballot on 15 April 2005.