The Battle is on for Tickets to the World Cup

ports fans saddened to see the end of the Nagano Winter Olympics can get their kicks at the next big event-this summer's World Cup in France.

If you plan to attend the games, you'd better get moving, though. Travel agents outside France began selling tickets at the beginning of the year, and only a limited number are still available. It's especially difficult-though not impossible-to secure tickets to games with the two Asian teams participating in the soccer extravaganza, Japan and South Korea.

Thirty-two teams will compete in 64 matches between June 10 and July 12. The games will be played in 10 different French locations-including Marseilles, Paris and Nantes-with the final round in Saint-Denis, about 10 km north of Paris. There are two ways to buy tickets outside France-through a country's national football federation, or through one of the 17 officially designated tour operators authorized to sell World Cup tickets. Four of these outlets are in Asia, including Ken-Air Tours in Singapore, JT Travel and the Japan Travel Bureau in Tokyo and JT Travel in Seoul.

The best one-stop shop is probably Ken-Air (tel: 65-338-7481), which offers travel packages as well as individual match tickets. It also provides the convenience of booking online: log onto their Web page (www.kenair-events.com) or E-mail them (sports@kenair.com.sg) for details. The "Follow Your Team" package, for example, includes tickets to three of your favorite team's matches, a hotel for six nights in the three match cities, a six-day French Rail Pass, hotel and stadium transfers, breakfasts and even souvenirs (airfare is not included). The cost: between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on the quality of hotel preferred. Single-match tickets without the extras range from about $25 for a first-round game to $330 for the finals, according to the World Cup headquarters in France. Ken-Air still has match tickets for the Korean and Japanese teams.

In Tokyo, apparently, no more single tickets are available, and most of the packages involving Japan's team are sold out. But JT Travel (tel: 813-3402-9955) has a few tours left (the cheapest, including airfare, three games, hotels and transportation costs about $2,000; the most expensive is $5,500). Primesport International (tel: 813-3284-7336), run by the Japan Travel Bureau, still is offering some final-game deals. And both outlets have packages available for other teams. In South Korea, JT Travel (tel: 822-726-5710) started selling package tours for the Korean matches in mid-March. Prices for a four-to-five day trip, including airfare and hotels, range from $1,500 to $1,800.

Adventurous travelers who can't snag a ticket at home can fly to France to try their luck at the stadium box office on the day of the game. There should be a few seats available: according to a spokesman for fifa, the international organization that sponsors the World Cup, a few games failed to sell out in the previous World Cups, in the U.S. and Italy. So hustle for tickets if you want to have a ball this summer.

-By Leah Kohlenberg, with reporting by Stella Kim/Seoul and Sachiko Sakamaki/Tokyo

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SHORT CUTS

IN THE (KOREAN) AIR TONIGHT It was a triumph of aviation needs over politics. In early March, planes from non-communist nations began flying over North Korean air space for the first time since the 1950s Korean War, shortening in-flight times by anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour on selected routes in Asia. Pyongyang officials agreed last year to open their skies to such flyovers, although commercial carriers won't officially start navigating the new routes until April. For those wondering if the fuel savings will translate into lower airfares: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific says that isn't likely to happen.

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DETOURS

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