The World Cup is "becoming known for its empty seats rather than teeming crowds," according to Tom Peck of the London INDEPENDENT. FIFA and local World Cup organizers on Saturday night were "under growing pressure to explain why almost all the early matches -- bar the opener between Brazil and Croatia -- have been played in partially unfilled stadiums, even when the games were meant to have been sold out." The crowd for Sunday's Switzerland-Ecuador match at the 72,500-seat Estadio Nacional "appeared, at best, two-thirds full." While reports indicated that many fans "were still outside waiting in security lines as the match kicked off, the ground didn't appear to be substantially more full by the second half." FIFA "gave the official attendance at 68,351." TV viewers "also spotted hundreds if not thousands of empty seats" at the Netherlands-Spain and Italy-England matches, "two of the most glamorous" games of the opening weekend. A FIFA spokesperson claimed that "a total of 2.9 million tournament tickets had been allocated, with only 9,327 remaining." An "allocated seat is not necessarily a sold seat." Large numbers of tickets distributed to national Football Associations "often go unsold and return to the general pot" (INDEPENDENT, 6/16). CBS' Elaine Quijano reported "long security lines prevented thousands of angry soccer fans from entering" Estadio Nacional Sunday, and some fans "missed the entire first half" of Switzerland-Ecuador ("Evening News," CBS, 6/15). In London, Tara Brady reported with "just hours to go before the Argentina and Bosnia Herzegovina kick-off on Sunday," tickets were "still available online" priced at £80 ($136). Tickets to see Bosnia Herzegovina play Iran in Salvador next week which cost £110 ($187) "remain largely unsold." Large numbers of tickets distributed to FAs around the world "often go unsold" (DAILY MAIL, 6/16).
