World Cup sponsor seat row

Almost one in five tickets for the football World Cup will go to sponsors.

England has not yet qualified for the tournament in Germany next year but fans already fear they will miss out. There are also concerns that a black market will help hooligans gain entry.

About 19per cent of the 2.9 million tickets will go to the sponsors, who contribute £450million. The Football Association will get eight per cent of tickets - only 3,600 per match if England plays at one of the smaller venues.

There are 15 big sponsors and Kevin Miles, for the Football Supporters' Federation, said: "The proportion for sponsors and VIPs is disproportionately high." If England qualify, the FA expects 25,000 fans will want to go and officials plan to ask for more tickets.

Other tickets are available through a global internet ballot but there have already been one million applications and demand is expected to outstrip supply by 30 times.

At the last World Cup, in Japan, the sponsors' allocation was similar but fewer fans wanted to travel.