Warriors tickets ‘sold out’

EIGHT PERCENT of the capacity of each World Cup Football venue in Germany is reserved for the fans of the competing teams through their respective official supporters’ associations. This though is where the facts are interesting, according to FIFA. For Category 1 matches in the opening round, the cost is 100 euros (US$120), Category 2 is 60 euros (US$72), Category 3 tickets cost 45 euros (US$54) and Category 4 costs 35 euros (US$47). Ticketcity.com is the leading supplier of all World Cup tickets including Follow My Team tickets, England World Cup Tickets, Germany World Cup Tickets, Brazil World Cup tickets, and all other participating World Cup countries. But a view of their website show different pricing.

For Trinidad and Tobago’s first match against Sweden, a Category 1 ticket is listed at US$450, there is a “Sold Out” sign for Category Two tickets and the joint price for Category 3 and 4 tickets is US $395. Trinidad and Tobago’s second match against England on Thursday, June 15 in Nuremberg , has a whopping US$1,495 for Category 1 tickets, but yet again Category 2 tickets have a “Sold  Out” sign , and Category 3 and 4 are priced at US$995. The final group one match is against Paraguay in Kaiserlautern, with Category 1 tickets listed at US$235 , no Category 2 tickets are available and Category 3 and Category 4 tickets are priced at US$195. A review of all ticket prices in the opening rounds, place the Trinidad and Tobago England match as the fifth most expensive match to view from Category 1 . At the head of the pack is the Japan versus Brazil encounter at a cost of US$2,595, followed by Sweden versus England at US$2,150. Next is Australia versus Japan at US$1,995, with the fourth expensive match being Croatia versus Japan at US$1,895.

For those with cellphones, it is important to know that Germany employs the GSM 900/1800 cell/mobile phone standard. Mobile/ cell phone carriers from the rest of Europe as well as Australasia, Africa, parts of Asia (with the exception of Japan) and the Pacific Rim also use this standard so visitors to the 2006 World Cup in Germany with mobile/cell phones from these countries will be able to use their mobile phones to make calls within Germany and to these countries. Most German mobile phone numbers begin with 017 or 016. Germany’s international dialing code is +49. No cell phone carriers from the USA and Canada operate on the GSM 900/1800 mobile phone standard so visitors from North America will need to rent a GSM 900/1800/1900 (international) mobile phone to be able to make calls within Europe and to North America during the 2006 German World Cup.

Satellite phones can also be rented for making mobile international calls. Cellhire is a leading international cellular phone rental provider which has provided mobile GSM phone rental for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, the FIFA World Cups in France in 1998 and Japan/Korea in 2002 and the Tour de France. Cellhire provides both an international GSM mobile phone rental and global satellite phone rental service. GSM cellular providers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean use multiple standards so please check with your carrier regarding your coverage and rent an international cell phone if appropriate. Mobile phones using a prepaid card are available from the two big German mobile phone companies: T-Online and Debitel.That it should it be the job of this newspaper or the work of the sleeping Local Organising Committee for Germany 2006, and the fact that it is Christmas is no excuse.  When you have a job, it must be performed otherwise it does not make any sense to be employed.