Ghanaian Residents Abroad Cry Foul

...Over World Cup Ticketing GHANAIAN RESIDENTS in Germany have expressed dismay, over Ghana's World Cup Ticket Sales, which is being managed by a German lady, Frau Sandra Hiller, instead of the official seller, Ghana Football Association (GFA). The residents, who are under the Union of Ghanaian Residents in Germany, forwarded their displeasure to the office of the President, the Ministry of Education and Sports, as well as the FA. The residents are asking for explanation, as to why Frau Hiller was mandated to sell tickets of Ghana's World Cup finals' matches to interested Ghanaians in Germany, adding that they want a response, by January 11, 2006. Ironically, the FA general secretary, Mr. Kofi Nsiah, in an interview with Guide Sports, over the weekend, confirmed that, his outfit had received the residents' letter. He, however, rubbished the grievances, pointing out that, they have no right to teach the FA what to do. Mr. Nsiah said his outfit contracted certain firms in the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, to facilitate the sale of the tickets, in their respective countries, so as to make things easier. He confirmed that, Frau Hiller emanates from a German firm, Fair Sport, which has been mandated by the FA to make the purchase of tickets easy for Ghanaian residents in Germany. He mentioned that, the amount to be paid the service providers has not been fixed yet, adding that, it would be done afterwards. He questioned their contributions towards Ghana's qualification for the world soccer tourney, in Germany. “Now that we've cruised to the World Cup finals, everyone wants to benefit from the fruits.” The FA general secretary stated that the FA does not see anything wrong with ticket sales, being handled by foreigners.
The FA general secretary noted that, the FA does not have the capacity to deal with the huge ticket demands for the over 9,000 tickets handed Ghana for the group stages of the tourney, hence the decision to seek the outsiders' help. The tickets, according to FIFA, are to be purchased by members of the general public from two primary sources.
The first source is the 2006 FIFA World Cup Ticketing Center (FWCTC), based in Frankfurt, Germany, and it is the principal seller of tickets to the general public worldwide.
For those who are unsuccessful in acquiring tickets from the FWCTC, FIFA has allocated to each of those of its Member Associations, whose teams have qualified to participate in final competition of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, a number of tickets for their matches which may be sold to the general public.
Participating Member Associations are entitled to sell “Fixed” and “Conditional” tickets to members of the general public.
Fixed tickets are tickets which are not conditional upon a Member Associations' progress through the competition, that is to say, tickets for First Round Matches played by that Member Association. Conditional tickets are tickets which are conditional upon the participation of a Member Association in the corresponding Second Round Match.
Once a Member Association is eliminated, it loses its ticket entitlement for all subsequent Second Round matches and individuals, who paid for such tickets shall be entitled to a refund from their Member Association.
The number of tickets allocated to each Participating Member Association, are based on the capacities of the Stadia, in which, each Member Association's team may play, during each stage of the tournament.
Following the Final Draw on December 9, 2005, the Participating Member Association ticket allocation will be adjusted to correspond to eight percent (8%) of all purchasable tickets in the stadium, in which, the Member Association is drawn to play its First Round Matches, or where it may progress to play its Second Round Matches.
Each Member Association is entitled to commence ticket sales for both Fixed and Conditional tickets immediately upon confirmation of its qualification for the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.
If a Member Association's team does not progress to all stages of the Second Round, the right to use Conditional Tickets for Second Round matches, following the elimination of that team, will be lost, and a refund will be provided. Auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young (Switzerland) are expected to serve as independent external auditors, to monitor and evaluate the overall ticketing project for the world tourney, after their appointment was confirmed by the Ticketing Sub-Committee, comprising representatives of FIFA and the German local organising committee, on January 9, this year.