Soccer: $10,000 will get you a ticket for the final

TOKYO - It's still not too late to get that ticket for tomorrow's World Cup final between Germany and Brazil. All you need is US$4800 ($9985).

And if that's a bit too much, a Fifa ticketing centre in Tokyo is offering a cheaper version for US$3800.

An official at Fifa's Hospitality International said the tickets were available on a first-come, first-served basis through the soccer organisation's "Prestige Programme."

The tickets come with food and drinks, entertainment and a souvenir gift thrown in.

The official declined to say how many of the tickets were still available.

Those who can do without the food and drinks will have to cough up plenty, too.

Various online brokers and websites are offering tickets that have a face value of US$750 for about US$3330.

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A British man has paid a fine of 150,000 yen ($2600) to win his release from a Japanese jail after spending 20 days in detention for selling a cup ticket and not carrying his passport.

John Jones, 43, a jeweller from London, was arrested near Niigata Stadium, north-west of Tokyo, for selling a ticket to the Ireland-Cameroon game to a passerby.

A police spokesman in Niigata said Jones was discharged from jail shortly after paying the fine.

On June 14, Jones told a court he was guilty but that his treatment had gone far beyond his crime.

He said he had sold the ticket for 20,000 yen for a friend who had been unable to make it to the game and that he had left his passport in his Tokyo hotel for safekeeping.

Jones said jail conditions and his treatment by police had been inhumane for what would be considered a misdemeanour in Britain.

He said he had been locked in a small room for 24 hours a day, been relentlessly interviewed by the police, and allowed no exercise and only two showers since his arrest, despite having admitted his guilt and willingness to pay a fine from the start.

- REUTERS

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