Irish football fans will have the opportunity to buy World Cup tickets in two weeks after France '98 organisers yielded to pressure from the European Union to make them more widely available for sale outside France.

The solution, announced yesterday, is the introduction of a Europe-wide ticket hotline, with 90 operators taking orders from callers in a total of 19 countries. A total of 110,000 tickets for 55 games will be put on sale.

Each caller will be entitled to buy four tickets for each game and an overall total 16. Callers must pay by credit card. The special line is due to open at six o'clock in the morning on the April 22nd and will be staffed 12 hours a day for eight days before the opening hours are cut back at the start of May.

The credit-card line is a major departure for the World Cup organisers, who, in the past, have sold tickets through national associations, and it is unlikely to affect FIFA's affiliates like the FAI which has so far received considerably less tickets than it had requested.

The move will undermine attempts to segregate crowds at games, although the organisers seem to be giving so few tickets to supporters of competing nations that they may simply feel that it is not a major concern.