132000 tickets already sold for FIFA Confederations Cup

On the eve of the draw for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013, the competition’s Organising Committee (OC) met in Sao Paulo and approved the procedures for tomorrow’s event, as well as including in the competition’s regulations the possibility of drinking and cooling breaks for the players. However, the main highlight of the post-meeting press conference was the announcement of the number of tickets sold during the VISA pre-sale phase. Jacques Anouma, the Deputy Chairman of the OC for the FIFA Confederations Cup, revealed that 132,795 tickets have already been sold for Brazil 2013 – compared to 10,000 at the same stage prior to South Africa 2009. FIFA.com brings you the pick of the statements made at the aforementioned press conference. Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA President “I’d like to state once more that this FIFA Confederations Cup is much more than a trial run for the FIFA World Cup: it’s a meeting of champions. We’ve got exactly 12 FIFA World Cup title wins between Brazil (five), Italy (four), Uruguay (two) and Spain (one). Plus we’ve got Japan, Mexico and Tahiti and we’re awaiting the 10 February 2013 to see which African representative qualifies.” Jacques Anouma, Deputy Chairman of the OC for the FIFA Confederations Cup “During this morning’s meeting we were informed by the LOC that everything will be ready in time for the start of the competition. The LOC gave us guarantees in relation to the work being carried out, stating that all the stadiums will be completed within the stated deadlines. In addition, we were informed that during the VISA pre-sales phase 132,000 tickets were sold. For South Africa [2009], at this same stage, only 10,000 tickets were sold. That gives you an idea of what this Confederations Cup will be like. On behalf of the Organising Committee for the FIFA Confederations Cup, I’d like to congratulate the organisers for the progress made and pass on my hopes that things continue to go well, so we can all be here in 2013 for an excellent FIFA Confederations Cup.” Jose Maria Marin, Chairman of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Organising Committee "Tomorrow is the most important day of the year for us on the Local Organising Committee. After a year of planning and a lot of work from everyone involved, the moment has arrived for us to discover the match-ups at this FIFA Confederations Cup: a veritable Festival of Champions. At this event we’re going to test out every area of operations, such as transport, security, accreditation, technology, catering and, of course, media services. From tomorrow onwards, the attention focused on Brazil and the FIFA Confederations Cup will increase every day, and we’ll be ready." Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary General On being assisted at the draw by Alex Atala and Adriana Lima "I’m very happy to have them with me tomorrow. At a draw, it’s normal to bring in people who aren’t in football. For the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup all the assistants will be from the football world, but we thought that for the FIFA Confederations Cup it’d be good to have other well-known figures from Brazil." On the number of tickets sold compared to South Africa 2009 "That’s the pre-sales phase, since sales start on 3 December. It’s more than good news, it’s excellent news. It shows how passionate Brazilians are about football. That statement is not a perception, it’s the absolute truth. The Brazilian people cannot wait. I believe that once sales begin then Rio de Janeiro and some of the other stadiums will sell out their tickets in a very short space of time. And that passion is not just about Brazil but the other [competing] national sides – and the game of football – too." FIFA