A total of 208 samples taken from players after the first 52 World Cup matches in South Africa were negative, FIFA's chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said Wednesday. Two players per team are tested directly after each match and none has yet been found to have any trace of a banned substance. The clean slate continues a drugs free trend at all World Cups since 1998, FIFA said. FIFA to release tickets FIFA said Wednesday it would release 2,000 tickets for the World Cup quarterfinals which had been reserved by fans who hoped their teams would reach the last eight but had seen them eliminated. “Tickets for the quarterfinals will be, as of noon today, released,” FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said at a media briefing Wednesday. There are 500 tickets available for the Brazil-Netherlands match at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth; 1,200 for the Uruguay-Ghana match at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg; and 300 tickets available for Argentina-Germany match at Greenpoint stadium in Cape Town. Maingot said FIFA would release more information regarding the Paraguay-Spain match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The soccer governing body also said almost 4 million fans had watched games at fan fests, with about 1.7 million going to sites in South Africa and about 2.2 million to its six international venues. Trespassing fan freed A fan who walked into the England team dressing room after a World Cup match will not face a criminal trial after he agreed to pay a fine, a South African Court ruled Wednesday. Pavlos Joseph, 32, was arrested for entering the England changing room following the side's disappointing goalless draw against Algeria on June 18. His solicitor told Cape Town Magistrates' Court that prosecutors had dropped further charges against Joseph after he paid a 750 rand ($98) fine for trespassing. The incident originally sparked concern about lax security during Africa's first hosting of the month-long tournament. South African police have since charged a British tabloid journalist with helping Joseph gain access to the dressing room. Police accuse the journalist from the Sunday Mirror tabloid of orchestrating the incident. The newspaper has denied its reporter was guilty of any wrongdoing. ‘Football needs more refs' Football either needs more referees or instant replay, US World Cup midfielder Landon Donovan told television interviewer David Letterman Tuesday night. Donovan appeared on the “Late Show” on US broadcaster CBS after returning from the World Cup, where the Americans won their group for the first time in 80 years. The United States was twice the victim of the disputed calls that have plagued the tournament, as the team had goals disallowed. “It's difficult because we know how fast the game is, and as a referee, you can't see everything,” Donovan said. “So you either need more eyes on the field or you need some sort of instant replay.” Donovan said it's frustrating “to put that much into something you're doing, and then all of a sudden, it's taken away from you.”
