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Mixed news about World Cup ticket order
Canadian Press
Still, that is better than some had expected.
Kevan Pipe, chief operating officer of the Canadian Soccer Association, said today Canada will get around 3,000 tickets -- half the 6,050 that were ordered.
Of the 500 groups or individuals who applied to buy tickets, more than 90 per cent will be getting some, Pipe said.
"Apart from about a dozen games, we were fairly successful in what we were asking for," said Pipe.
Canada got 3,147 tickets in all. In 1994, when the finals were in the U.S., Canadians got 24,000 of 32,000 tickets ordered. In 1990, when the competition was in Italy, Canada ordered -- and received -- 957 tickets.
Pipe said people who applied for tickets should receive letters this week telling them about whether their orders can be filled.
There has been a worldwide outcry over the limited availability of tickets for the 64-game finals this time around. England, which qualified for the tournament, has only been alotted around 10,000 tickets in total for its three first-round games.
World Cup organizers have said there have been 25 million applications for the 2.5 million tickets available. Some 65 per cent of those tickets have been reserved for French sales and Canada, which failed to qualify for the finals, was well down the pecking order of ticket preference.
There were about a dozen games for which Canada received next to no tickets: contests that include the opening game, final and semifinals and all games involving England.
Pipe also announced Canada will play host to Macedonia in Toronto on May 18.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan