David Will, the head of FIFA's ticketing sub-committee, said he had to tell co-hosts Korea and Japan at the end of February that if they did not provide crucial information about the 20 stadiums, there would be no tickets for the finals.

Without tickets, the tournament could not have taken place, especially since security had to be particularly tight after the September 11 attacks. There was also a huge hooliganism threat.

Will said he told the Korean and Japanese organising committees (KOWOC and JAWOC) that there was a crisis at the end of February after they failed to meet a deadline to provide the data about the seats which had been set for mid-October.

"At every one of the meetings I tried to stress how vital it was to receive the data," Scottish official Will told a news conference.

"At the end of February I expressed that there was a crisis and if we didn't get the data we would not be able to produce the tickets for the World Cup."

All the income from ticket sales will go to JAWOC and KOWOC. The sight of tens of thousands of empty seats at the opening games caused a huge controversy, spoiling the backdrop of soccer's most important stage. Both the Japanese and Korean governments voiced frustration at the situation.

JAWOC criticised FIFA's British-based ticketing operating agent Byrom for some of the problems. But Will said the delay in getting the final information, which was provided in March, meant Byrom had to complete "six months' work in six weeks".

Byrom needed the information to print the tickets in Britain and distribute them.

"Byrom has been subjected to an enormous amount of criticism, most recently and disappointingly from JAWOC," Scottish official Will said.

"The truth is that it was Byrom who rescued the ticketing process from a crisis situation."

International sales were particularly low in Korea in contrast to the domestic market which has been boosted by the national team's astonishing run to today's semi-final against Germany in Seoul.

"Everybody blames September 11 for things but it did have a dramatic effect," Will said.

"International sales went down because it stopped people travelling internationally."