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Tickets stolen
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THIEVES have stolen thousands of tickets for next month's World Cup qualifier between Georgia and Italy, a Georgian soccer federation (GSF) spokesman said on Tuesday.
Mamuka Kvaratskhelia told reporters that thieves broke into a car parked in front of the GSF headquarters last week and stole some US$57,000 worth of tickets for the June 2 match as well as the under-21 European group eight qualifier on June 1.
“The boxes with tickets were brought to the GSF headquarters on May 11 and while they were left unattended for just a short time, thieves broke into the car, stealing 1,200 tickets for the senior game and all the 18,000 for the junior match,” he said.
“We reported the theft to the police right away but didn't want to make the case public, hoping it would help them catch the thieves.”
Kvaratskhelia said the thieves were hoping to cash in on huge demand for the June 2 tie against the group eight leaders.
The venue for both matches is the 50,000-capacity Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi. Tickets were priced 15-20 lari (US$7.5-10) for the June 2 match and three to five lari for the under-21 fixture.
Police said they would print a special seal on all tickets to safeguard against those that have been stolen.
Last year, thieves stole US$42,000 in cash from the office of the GSF President Merab Zhordania. (SD-Agencies)
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