Tuesday, December 06, 2005
World Cup seedings for Friday
FIFA never cease to amaze me. After weeks of concern (mainly in the press) that England wouldn't be seeded, it turned out that we have been seeded only 2nd to Brazil. England will be one of 8 seeds, the others are Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Mexico and France. The USA missed out on being seeded by a single point. The exact formula for seedings has been kept a secret but the important thing is that England are seeded. The only thing for certain is that we will face another European side.
As most things to do with FIFA, there is a curious aspect to the draw. Germany have already been allocated as team A1 and will take part in the opening game. However, Brazil have also been allocated into group F. As yet, I have found no explanation for this but looking at the structure of the competition, Germany and Brazil will not face each other until the final, assuming both sides get there. Given the controversial circumstances that surrounded the award of the 2006 competition to Germany in the first place, you could be forgiven for being suspicious about Brazil being put into group F before the draw.
For a full explanation of the draw on Friday, have a look at this fantastic website. Feel free to have a bet by joining one of the bookies via the advert (blatant marketing plug)
Meanwhile, England fans are talking more and more about tickets. Quite clearly, demand will far outstrip supply. There are 25,000 members of the official travel club but allocations in the stadia could be under 3,000. A loyalty program is in place for supporters in which we earn 'caps' for games we go to. 1 cap for home games and 2 for away games. 70% of the tickets for each game go to 'top-cappers' and the remaining 30% are awarded on the result of a ballot. The official FIFA allocation for each country taking part in a game is 8% of stadium capacity. Both the FA and Minister of Sport have made approaches to try to secure more tickets for supporters but with FIFA seemingly more interested in looking after sponsors and corporate customers than genuine fans, we don't hold out much. Personally speaking, I have enough caps to guarantee me tickets for every game.
So now we wait for Friday's draw.
As most things to do with FIFA, there is a curious aspect to the draw. Germany have already been allocated as team A1 and will take part in the opening game. However, Brazil have also been allocated into group F. As yet, I have found no explanation for this but looking at the structure of the competition, Germany and Brazil will not face each other until the final, assuming both sides get there. Given the controversial circumstances that surrounded the award of the 2006 competition to Germany in the first place, you could be forgiven for being suspicious about Brazil being put into group F before the draw.
For a full explanation of the draw on Friday, have a look at this fantastic website. Feel free to have a bet by joining one of the bookies via the advert (blatant marketing plug)
Meanwhile, England fans are talking more and more about tickets. Quite clearly, demand will far outstrip supply. There are 25,000 members of the official travel club but allocations in the stadia could be under 3,000. A loyalty program is in place for supporters in which we earn 'caps' for games we go to. 1 cap for home games and 2 for away games. 70% of the tickets for each game go to 'top-cappers' and the remaining 30% are awarded on the result of a ballot. The official FIFA allocation for each country taking part in a game is 8% of stadium capacity. Both the FA and Minister of Sport have made approaches to try to secure more tickets for supporters but with FIFA seemingly more interested in looking after sponsors and corporate customers than genuine fans, we don't hold out much. Personally speaking, I have enough caps to guarantee me tickets for every game.
So now we wait for Friday's draw.
// posted by Big Blue Marble @ 6:01 pm 
