KINGSTON (Jamaica), April 15: World Cup organisers insisted on Sunday that the West Indies' virtual failure to reach the World Cup semi-finals will not lead to the matches being played out to empty stadia.

Sabina Park here will stage the first semi-final on April 24 with the second semi-final at Beausejour in St Lucia on April 25.

“A high percentage in the number of tickets for the semi-finals have been sold,” World Cup chief executive Chris Dehring told the Sunday Observer.

“You're always going to have fans who have tickets with the hope of supporting their team, but will always be anxious to be there and be a part of history.”

The West Indies have lost all four of their Super Eights matches and they need a series of miracle results to squeeze into the last four.

If South Africa beat England on Tuesday, then all hope will be lost.

Attendances for most World Cup matches have been poor.

At Sunday's match between Bangladesh and Ireland in Barbados, free entry was reportedly being granted to spectators.

That match had been scheduled to feature India against Pakistan but both of the Asian giants were knocked out in the first round dealing a devastating blow to the tournament.—AFP