Soccer fans have requested more than 500,000 tickets for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, 50,000 more than the number made available to the public during the first phase of ticket sales.
As of Monday's deadline for the first round of applications for tickets, fans applying to follow their teams as far as they get in the tournament had oversubscribed for tickets available under this option for Portugal, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and Wales.
A draw will be held next month for those games or categories where demand had outstripped supply. Applicants will be informed by July 31 how many tickets they were assigned but the tickets themselves will only be distributed two weeks before the tournament begins for security reasons.
For those matches where there are still tickets available, ticket sales will start again on August 1 and will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. Tickets for the tournament, which cost between 35 euros to 270 euros, went on sale on April 28 on the tournament's official website (www.euro2004.com).
Supporters in Portugal also had the option of reserving tickets at post offices across the country. A total of 1.2 million tickets will be available for the 31 games of the finals, which will be played between June 12 and July 4 next year. The remaining batches will become available after the November 30 draw to establish the fixtures for the 16-team event.
Filed by James Boylan
