Fears allayed as Cup tickets arrive

TICKETS for over 600 Irish fans travelling to the Rugby World Cup arrived in the country yesterday, ending fears of a distribution delay.

The International Rugby Board was forced to assure worried overseas fans they will receive tickets next week in time for the start of the 20-nation tournament. The IRB were forced to make the statement amidst concern by overseas ticketing agents about the delay in processing match tickets.

However, Neil Horgan, sports manager with Abbey Tours, the official Irish ticket supplier, said the tickets are now in their possession, and will be distributed to customers by the end of the week.

“There has been no problem whatsoever,” he said. “The tickets entered the country yesterday and they will be stored in a safe location for 24 to 48 hours as we prepare travel documents for our customers.

“We are in talks with An Post about the most secure means of getting the tickets to customers, though admittedly, most are keen to collect them in person, especially those with tickets for the Australia v Ireland game,” he added.

A number of his English counterparts had yet to receive their allocations yesterday. Andrea Stephens of Gullivers Pacific, an official World Cup agent, said it had received a letter from the IRB last week citing printing and packaging problems as the cause for the delay. “We are worried, everybody is worried, we’ve got our first departures leaving next week.” However, Mr Horgan said the timing of the ticket release was not surprising.

“Look at FIFA and the World Cup in the Far East last year. The tickets only began to arrive about a week before the tournament. So 10 days is a good result as far as we’re concerned.”