Fifteen days after opening the first phase of ticket sales for the World Cup 2014, FIFA has received 3.6 million requests for entries. The figure was released Thursday by the secretary general of football, Jérôme Valcke.
According to Valcke, the amount of tickets requests is impressive. He said that only for the final of the tournament, which will take place on July 13 in Rio de Janeiro, almost 500,000 tickets have been requested. That’s nearly seven times the audience capacity Maracana stadium that will receive the final match of the tournament.
The Secretary recalled that the World Cup in Germany in 2006, 8 million tickets were requested in the first phase of sale. The number is still a record. Valcke said, however, that Brazil is on track to surpass it. The first phase of ticket sales for the 2014 World Cup ends on October 10.
Valcke also spoke about the country’s preparations for the tournament. In his last trip to Brazil at the end of August he saw the commitment of host cities to deliver on time the structures needed for the World Cup.
Pointed out, moreover, that these structures are not only stages. “To ensure that fans, teams and media have a great experience, we need public transport, airports and accommodation ready,” he added.
Finally, Valcke announced a new visit to Brazil, in the second week of October. This time, the secretary general of FIFA will visit Cuiaba and Porto Alegre.
