FIFA makes seat pledge for Brazil 2014October 12, 2012 - 21:11 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - FIFA vowed Wednesday , October 10 to limit the number of empty seats to a "strict minimum" during games at the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014, International News Network reported. This summer's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine and the London Olympics both struggled with empty seats at events that were meant to be sold out. FIFA admit it is impossible to eradicate the problem completely but are confident they will have systems in place to avoid similar embarrassment in Brazil. "Empty seats is always a huge topic," said FIFA's marketing director Thierry Weil, speaking at the Leaders in Football conference at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London. "We are implementing new initiatives, we are implementing new resale platforms. "There will always be no-shows as we call it in the ticketing world, people who, last minute, will not come to the stadium for certain reasons. "But we will do our maximum to reduce that to a strict minimum." Weil confirmed FIFA were revamping the official resale website used at the last World Cup, to allow tickets to be reallocated as late as the day of a game, helped by the fact that no physical ticket will be issued until the day of the match. One of the biggest complaints during the Olympics was the large blocks of empty seats in some venues in the early stages of competition, which organisers blamed on competitors, team officials and corporate ticket holders failing to show up. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |