Organisers of this year’s Fifa Confederations Cup in Russia have described themselves as “pretty much content” with fan demand as it was announced that around 80,000 tickets were requested during the first round of sales.
The Confederations Cup, which features eight teams including the hosts, world champions Germany and European champions Portugal, is used as an opportunity to test facilities and systems ahead of the World Cup, which will be held in Russia next year.
Just 11,000 of the 82,478 requests, which came ahead of last Friday’s deadline, were from overseas fans. Chilean fans requested almost 5,000 tickets, meaning fewer than 6,000 came from the rest of the world, including fellow qualifiers Australia, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal.
The requests for the 16-match tournament were in addition to 48,504 sales during the Visa pre-sales phase in November 2016.
Speaking about sales, Alexei Sorokin, director of the local organising committee, told the Tass news agency: “We are pretty much content with the level of sales. The percent of applications from abroad was low. However, this is a peculiarity of this tournament and the figure will be much higher for the World Cup.”
Organisers said all ticket applications received during the window will have the same chance of being successful no matter when they were placed. In the case of any matches and price categories in which demand exceeds the available inventory, random selection draws will take place to fairly allocate tickets to applicants before the end of February. A further round of sales will begin in March.
The Confederations Cup will take place in Kazan, Moscow, Sochi and Saint Petersburg from June 17 to July 2. It will feature Russia, Australia, Chile, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand and Portugal, as well as the winners of the African Cup of Nations, which is currently taking place in Gabon.
Falk Eller, head of ticketing, at Fifa, was more encouraged by sales. He said: “The sales system in place ensures that fans all around the world have fair and equal access to tickets. The number of ticket requests from Chile confirms the great appeal of the tournament, not only in Russia but also abroad, as some fans are willing to cross the world to see their team play in the Fifa Confederations Cup.
“We are convinced that the tournament of champions will have a thrilling atmosphere in the stands and that the coming sales phases will enable more fans to secure their tickets.”
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