Asian Games may lose US$2.3 million after South Korea soccer loss<img border="0" src="http://www.persianleague.com/images/pic.gif" width="13" height="11">

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's failure to make the soccer final at the Asian Games could cost organizers about 2.7 billion won (US$ 2.3 million) in lost revenues.
Amid sluggish ticket sales, the organizers had planned to sell 11,000 closing ceremony tickets tied with tickets to the finals for 250,000 won (US$195) each.

South Korea lost on penalty kicks to Iran in the semifinals on Thursday, leaving Japan to take on Iran in the final on Sunday.

"Now that South Korea is not in the finals, ticket sales are expected to be pretty low," said Eum Doo-hwan, who is in charge of ticket sales at the committee.

If the South Koreans had advanced, it would have set up a showpiece final with archrival Japan - a guaranteed sellout.

South Koreans still harbor bitter feelings toward Japan for its harsh 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. Koreans don't like losing to the Japanese, and soccer matches between the two usually draw a capacity crowd.

Eum said some soccer fans were demanding refunds for the men's soccer final tickets while others are offering their tickets below price on Internet websites.

Japanese fans who might have flown to Busan expecting a showdown between the historic rivals were also likely to cancel their trips, Eum said.

Only 1.24 million of the 2.6 million tickets available for the Asian Games have been sold, organizers said. The average ticket sales for events stood at 43 percent, far lower than the organizers' goal of 75 percent.

The games end Monday.