European firms selling overpriced tickets to Japanese fans

Japanese fans are falling foul of European firms who are selling tickets at way over market price.

Reselling of tickets for Japan matches at the upcoming soccer World Cup finals in Germany is running rampant as the event’s June 9 kickoff approaches.

The Web site of one Tokyo-based travel agency reads: “Just in time! World Cup Germany tickets.” The agency says it purchased the tickets from a European firm.

FIFA do prohibit the selling of tickets through agents but I guess this isn’t working.

Tickets for the coming matches are sold on the organizing committee’s Web site, and also are available from official sponsors and the soccer associations in the participating countries, which have each been given a cache of tickets to sell to the public.

The tickets at the travel agency, therefore, are ones that have been resold.

Match tickets also include IC chips containing the purchaser’s personal information, making it easy for stadium staff to check the buyer’s name, gender and age.

They introduced tickets last time that had the buyer’s name on them, but they are never checked at the gates as I can confirm from the last World Cup.
So I don’t think it will work in Germany this time around.

When it first released tickets for the Germany events, the Japan Football Association received 87 times more applications than their allotment of 6,400 tickets.

The price of the ticket offered by the travel agency starts at 235,000 yen per seat for Japan’s match against Brazil in the group round–nearly 36 times the official price.

European firms I guess are taking unfair advantage [of Japanese soccer fans] because they know the tickets will sell.

The Japan Football Association has however warned fans buying black market tickets, and that is “The high ticket prices will keep real fans away from the stadium. One should remember that entering with a resold ticket bears risks, such as being required to produce identification.”