With the end of the third sales phase, 2.6 million of the approximately 3 million available tickets have been sold, including 1.1 million to customers around the world through the official Web site.

Footwear brands and the retail sector are forced to reflect the cost of the duties in their sales prices. There is no doubt that consumer prices will rise by up to 20 percent if antidumping duties of such magnitude as proposed by the European Commission are imposed.

When one considers the fact that 2.7 million tickets have been sold and that around 15 million fans applied for tickets on the Internet, the proportion of those prepared to give up their tickets is only in the region of 2 percent.

This affects German football overall, but it isn't specifically a theme for the World Cup.

The image this study gives our stadiums in Germany or abroad does not correspond at all to reality: these stadiums have in place the most efficient security measures possible.

Despite the enormous interest, those applying in the remaining two days do have a realistic chance of getting a FIFA World Cup ticket.