Germany sells all 640 World Cup tickets for blind fans

BERLIN, May 19 (Reuters) - All 640 tickets for blind soccer fans at World Cup matches have been sold, Germany's organising committee said on Friday.

For the first time at a World Cup, 10 tickets for each of the 64 matches have been reserved for blind fans, who will each be allowed to take an escort into the stadiums for free. There will also be two commentators accompanying the groups at each match.

Headphones will be made available so that the fans can hear the commentary in one ear and the stadium sounds in the other. The organising committee said English commentators would be available for all the English team's matches.

Several Bundesliga teams have had groups of blind fans regularly in their stadiums, such as at Dortmund, Cologne and Hamburg, and said the practice had been successful, the organising committee said.

The equipment will be left in place at all 12 venues after the World Cup, which runs from June 9 to July 9.