It's free for politicians at World Cup

Berlin: If you thought that only the Indian politicians and civil servants enjoy free hospitality during sports events think again.

Their brethren's in Germany will be a pampered lot during the month long FIFA World Cup.

The German government has decided to give 79 German politicians and high-ranking civil servants tickets for the World Cup finals.

They will be able to attend all 64 matches at the month-long tournament in Germany this year, a report said on Monday.

The German Interior Ministry document setting out the VIP tickets policy said it was designed to ensure that a government minister would attend every match involving Germany and that a representative of the German state would be at all the other matches, according to the top-selling Bild newspaper.

The list published by the top-selling Bild newspaper includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Horst Koehler and every government minister, but also the presidents of the country's 16 regional states and the heads of political parties and the state parliaments.

Most of the 79 dignitaries will receive two tickets each.

A government spokesman said the procedure was normal practice in any country hosting a World Cup.

Around 2.6 million of the more than 3 million tickets available for the tournament have been sold, with demand far exceeding supply in each sales phase.