FIFA concerned about World Cup ticketing disaster

The AP reports that FIFA has finally expressed concern about Germany's insistence that all tickets have the names of the holders, something I've long thought was a problem. Imagine having to tell some fan drunk on booze and nationalism that they're not getting into the game because they can't produce an ID in addition to their ticket.

Part of the problem is that this could create massive backups when entering the stadium. If every fan has to produce ID, that adds a step that makes ticket taking even slower than it already is, thus entry lines crawl more slowly than they already do. And even if only one fan in a hundred has a problem proving their identity that requires sorting out, then you've got the equivalent of the intersection of the 405 and 10 freeways at rush hour (yeah, I'm from Los Angeles).

Another more ominious problem is that it could create violence. A lot of these fans will be drunk and aggressive upon entering the stadium, and if they're told they can't enter because they don't have proof of identity that could be a problem either at the turnstile or outside the stadiums as angry fans get together and trash stuff to let out their frustration. Also, who enforces the ticket taker's decision not to admit a fan? Does the German FA really think that if some skinny 20-year-old dude or nice 50-ish matron says to a drunken thug "you have no ID, you'll have to skip the game you came all the way across the globe to attend" that's just going to happen? There will need to be security guards at every gate.

Finally, let's say it all goes smoothly but the result of the policy is swaths of empty seats from fans who lack ID or people who couldn't attend but also couldn't give tickets to friends or family, well that sucks too in terms of spectacle and atmosphere.

Hopefully the German FA will key in to their national sense of organization and sort this all out. But given this concern, DFinD's tip to the broad readership is to get into those games early and often. Start the tailgate a good four or five hours before kickoff, make a dent in all that delicious Deutschebrau you brought, and head into the stadium a solid hour early to avoid the aforementioned snafus and see all of the action. In 2002, can you imagine if your answer to "Where were you when John O'Brien scored against Portugal?" was "Standing in line haggling with a ticket taker?"