AP Online
06-11-2006
Dateline: BERLIN, Germany
Workers move a goal at the World Cup stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Monday, June 11, 2006. The Stadium will host a first round World Cup 2006 Group E soccer match between The United States and the Czech Republic on Tuesday, June 12. The other teams in the Group E are Ghana and Italy. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
World Cup organizers want to play some matches under roofs to reduce the amount of shadow in TV broadcasts _ as long as it does not get too steamy for players.
"If you have watched the matches (Saturday) on television, you saw that for the matches in the afternoon _ when the sun is shining _ it's not the best TV picture," FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said Sunday.
Web-like steel rods over Frankfurt's stadium cast shadows over the field during England's 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday.
Frankfurt and Gelsenkirchen are two of the 12 venues with retractable roofs, and FIFA is considering playing the afternoon matches at those venues with the tops closed.
"We're currently assessing the situation," he said. "We must understand, millions and millions of people are watching the match and there's not a nice picture with all those shadows."
But with temperatures rising across Germany _ and the England players already complaining about the heat _ player comfort is a big issue.
"The priority, of course, are the players. We have to check the situation, what it means with regards to the heat," said Siegler, adding that the first World Cup matches played under a roof were "like a sauna."
"It should not be as it was in 1994 at the Silverdome, when you played around noon and it was like 50 degrees (122 degrees Fahrenheit) or more in Detroit.
"At the same time, we have a responsibility to the billions of fans around the world watching on television, and they are not seeing good pictures with the shadow markings on the pitch."
Despite limits on tickets issued to each national association, England fans dominated the crowd at the 43,324-seat stadium in Frankfurt, raising local concerns about the number of tickets being sold on the black market.
Despite strict rules that require personal information in exchange for tickets in a bid to weed out potential hooligans, Germany 2006 spokesman Gerd Graus said the ticket system "ultimately it's ... like roulette."
He said the England fans either got in early when the tickets went on sale on the Internet or were lucky.
"According to our information, all tickets were sold in a proper manner," he said.
Graus said random checks for identification at stadium gates had not uncovered any illegal tickets.
The only security breach so far, he said, was when two fans got into the players' area at the England-Paraguay match.
"They did get in, but were immediately taken to the side," he said. "No problem at all. We had it under control."
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