MUMBAI: The ICC World Twenty20 2012 ticket launch will take place at the Galle Face Green on 24 March with Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapaksa purchasing the very first ticket of the tournament.

The launch will also feature the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat as well as representatives from both the Sri Lankan men?s and women?s cricket teams, popular musicians, dance acts and dignitaries, including Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, the Minister for Sports in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Cricket president Upali Dharmadasa.

As a central part of the launch festivities, the ICC will be handing out 800 free match tickets to fans for the tournament. The free tickets will be allotted to 20 pairs for each of the 20 match days and will be distributed to fans via a raffle draw conducted using a Z-card which each member of the public will receive on entering the Galle Face Green event.

The tournament will be staged in Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele from 18 September - 7 October and is the first time the ICC World Twenty20 has been held in Asia

The tickets will go on sale to the public from 26 March with a window of four days exclusively for Sri Lankan fans. Tickets will be available at box offices located in Colombo, Kandy and Hambantota and at selected MONEYGRAM outlets in Bank of Ceylon branches. It is mandatory for those purchasing tickets to have their NIC or a valid passport with them.

A maximum of four tickets can be purchased by each person for the Super Eight, semi-finals and finals, and a maximum of six tickets per person for the group stage. Online booking of tickets will be available by logging onto www.icc-cricket.com and buyers must produce their NIC or valid passport and receipt confirming their purchase to redeem their match ticket at the box office. Ticket collection will take place from 1 August 2012.

The ICC Women?s World Twenty20 will be free of charge for spectators in the group stages which will be played in Galle. The women?s semi-finals and final will be played on the same day on the same ground as the men?s semi-finals and final and will be covered by the same ticket.

The tickets will go on global sale on 30 March at 0900 GMT with a second phase of tickets becoming available on 1 August 2012.

On 24 March the final qualifiers as well as Group A and B line-ups for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 will be confirmed as the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifying Tournament, being held in the United Arab Emirates, reaches its conclusion.