You may be a loyal Japan national team fan that belongs to an official fan club and has attended every single friendly in Japan, but you still might end up watching the 2002 World Cup on television.

That's because the Japanese 2002 World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) has decided that less than half the tickets it will receive from FIFA -- an estimated 340,000 -- will be sold to the general public, and these will be distributed after a lottery.

A fair deal? Loyal fans think otherwise. After making all the effort to go to the stadiums to watch the national team in all conditions, they want, in return, a little respect from JAWOC. Namely, a draw weighted in their favor.

They are not happy that Joe Salaryman, who comes home from work every night and tunes in to watch the Yomiuri Giants play the Hanshin Tigers, will have the same chance of getting World Cup tickets as they do.

So, two soccer fans, Shinya Hamamura and Asahi Ueda, went out and collected signatures from supporters concerned by JAWOC's plan for ticket sales in an attempt to make kickstart an appeal.

They ended up with over 6,000 signatures.

Starting June 11, the two collected signatures at stadiums all over Japan. Soccer fans were asked to submit their ticket stubs with their names, addresses and ideas on how tickets should be sold.

"We wanted to do something before the whole (ticket sales) process was decided for good," Hamamura said on Wednesday after submitting the stubs to the JAWOC office in Tokyo. "We would like (JAWOC) to listen to these opinions . . . and give us fans a priority allotment of tickets."

Fans' opinions varied. Many said it would be unbearable if someone who's never been to a game gets a ticket while fans who frequently go to matches end up with nothing.

Some requested that "for the benefit of Japanese soccer, we the supporters who are the base of Japan's soccer should have advantage over other people when buying tickets."

Some commanded JAWOC "to go and get more tickets to be allotted to Japan."

The two organizers, who visited JAWOC on behalf of the fans, were a little calmer.

"We're not saying, 'Give the tickets to the hardcore fans,' " Ueda said. "I mean, I can't even define a 'hardcore fan.'

"If JAWOC said to me, 'We've decided to save some tickets for the especially loyal fans so tell us where the line is between the hardcore soccer fans and the others,' I wouldn't be able to do it.

"But I want JAWOC to listen to the voices of those who have made an effort to go to the stadiums," Ueda added. "And I hope that (the messages on the ticket stubs) will in some way have an influence upon JAWOC's final decision."

Despite their low-key approach, it's tickets that they want and they obviously feel that Japan's loyal supporters are getting a raw deal.

JAWOC said it would consider the fans' feelings. They are expected to come up with a decision around mid-August.