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FIFA relaxes ticket rules

Prized possessions, but still available

SEOUL, South Korea -- Authorities have relaxed the rules on ticketing to try to make sure there are more full houses during the World Cup.

Fans will no longer be made to have the ticket with their name printed on it, after football's world governing body FIFA relaxed the rules.

FIFA had said that naming tickets and making fans show ID was a key way to ensure security and prevent hooliganism.

The relaxation of this rule will make it easier for tickets to change hands.

The decision was made after officials from FIFA and the organising committees from co-hosts South Korea and Japan discussed measures to make life easier for fans.

South Korean officials said matching the names on tickets with fans' ID cards was "realistically impossible."

"Flexibility will be exercised at venues in checking the names on tickets and holder's ID cards," South Korea's committee said in a statement.

Tens of thousands of tickets were still being distributed over the weekend as officials rushed to get them out to fans on time.

A FIFA spokesman said: "It would be stupid to pretend we have not had problems with ticketing. "We are about a month later than anticipated in printing and delivering."