Blair bid to help World Cup ticket scam children played down

England captain David Beckham poses with children before the World Cup match against Trinidad and Tobago on June 15. A British government department has played down Prime Minister Tony Blair's offer to help 350 schoolchildren who missed out on watching a World Cup game due to an alleged ticket scam.

A British government department has played down Prime Minister Tony Blair's offer to help 350 schoolchildren who missed out on watching a World Cup game due to an alleged ticket scam.

Blair pledged Monday that getting the heartbroken British pupils back to Germany to watch another match was "something we need to work on to make sure they can get out there".

But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) warned that it would be very difficult to get their hands on so many tickets at this stage.

Blair had told BBC radio: "I think the Sports Minister Richard Caborn is trying to sort something out.

"I don't know what exactly can be done, but obviously for them it's terrible and it's something we need to work on to make sure they can get out there.

"Usually there is a very strict boundary (between sport and government) but on something like this we will try to do what we can to help."

But a DCMS spokeswoman said that while they would try their hardest to get the children into a World Cup game, it did not want to get their hopes up only for them to be dashed.

"It will be very difficult to find 400 tickets," she said. "We are going to try to do our best. Richard will obviously try to find a solution."

Just hours before the youngsters, aged 11 to 16, were due to watch the Czech Republic verus Ghana game in Cologne on Saturday, their tour operators discovered the alleged ticket con by their ticket providers.

The children were then told to travel to Frankfurt for the Portugal against Iran game, but before they departed they were told there were no tickets for this match either.

The disappointed youngsters, from Mayville High School in Portsmouth, on the southern English coast, had paid between 379 and 399 pounds (700 and 735 dollars, 555 and 585 euros) for the tour package.

An international police investigation is now underway.

The school's deputy headteacher, Martin Castle, said he was thrilled by Blair's offer but sceptical that enough tickets could be found.

"It is a fantastic offer by Tony Blair and I know he is a proper fan of football and wants to support our kids.

"He's delivered on some big stuff in his time and this is minor in comparison though. It might be possible, but lots of people are promising to get tickets but when it comes to the crunch I'm not so sure it's so straightforward."