GERMANY: Scores of leading German politicians will be given free tickets for the entire World Cup it was revealed yesterday, as criticism mounted of the way the tournament is being organised.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, her cabinet, and President Horst Köhler have been invited to watch all 64 games. They will each be offered two free tickets for each match, officials said.
Other beneficiaries include parliamentary party leaders, two constitutional judges, and Ms Merkel's press secretary, Ulrich Wilhelm. Last month millions of fans failed to get tickets in the latest Fifa ballot.
There is outrage at Fifa's management of the tournament, with particular criticism of its decision to give 18 per cent of the three million tickets to sponsors.
Yesterday Germany's tabloid Bild listed all 79 politicians who qualify for free tickets. Many have previously shown little or no interest in football, the paper noted.
Yesterday, however, Germany's interior ministry, which drew up the list, defended the freebies. "I can understand people's frustration. Seventy-nine sounds a lot," Christian Sachs, the ministry spokesman, said. "But given Germany's federal structure and the fact that there are 12 host cities, this is really the minimal number of people we could identify to make sure the German government was properly represented."
Ms Merkel was likely to see the opening game on June 9th in Munich - Germany vs Costa Rica - and the final in Berlin, he added.
Other politicians defended their tickets. "The World Cup is taking place in Germany. It's only right for us to have tickets so we can host foreign guests," said Volker Kauder, the head of Ms Merkel's Christian Democrat party.
England fans have received only 8 per cent per cent of the ticket allocation for England's first three games.
"The method of distributing tickets has been pretty unsavoury. But unfortunately this is normal," said Mark Perryman, of the independent fan group Londonenglandfans.
He added: "The way the draw has gone we are playing in three of the smallest stadiums. This means Angola and Iran are getting more tickets than we are."
Most Germans are sceptical of their chances of winning the tournament. Last week Germany lost 4-1 to Italy.
The press has turned on the coach, Jürgen Klinsmann, dubbing him "Grinsi Klinsi" (Grinning Klinsi) for his insouciant behaviour during a post-match press conference.