Empty World Cup Seats Due To No-Shows, Not Corporate Absences, FIFA Says

FIFA said that the empty seats visible at some stadiums in the World Cup's opening 14 matches "are due to fans who have bought tickets but have not turned up for the games rather than corporate clients not using them," according to Mike Collett of REUTERS. FIFA's official figures show that 701,710 of the 716,176 seats available in the opening games "have been filled," meaning that 98% of all seats "have been used in the games so far." Only one match -- Sunday's Group F opener between Argentina and Bosnia at the Maracana -- "has produced a capacity of 100 percent" with all 74,738 seats sold and used. The lowest percentage attendance was for the third match of the tournament, the Group B match between the Netherlands and world champions Spain in Salvador, which the Dutch won 5-1. FIFA spokesperson Delia Fischer said, "These seats are not empty because corporate people are failing to turn up for them. They are empty, because for whatever reason, fans who bought tickets are not turning up for the matches" (REUTERS, 6/17).