FRANKFURT, Dec 12: The organising committee for the 2006 World Cup in Germany expect demand to soar when the fourth sales period of 250,000 tickets begins on Monday at 12:00 a.m (1100 GMT).

Following Friday’s draw fans of the 32 competing nations now know where and when their teams are playing and a mad ticket rush is anticipated.

“We can sense the increased interest among the qualified nations,” said Horst R. Schmidt, vice-president of the organising committee.

Football fans have until January 15, 2006 to snap up the latest batch of 250,000 tickets although the opening game in Munich between hosts Germany and Costa Rica on June 9 is already sold-out.

In total 2.93 million tickets are on sale for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, running from June 9 to July 9, with prices ranging from 35 euros to 600 euros.

Demand is certain to outstrip supply and black market tickets have already surfaced on online auction site ebay with prices for the knockout stages hiked up by thousands of euros.—AFP