Paris (France) (AFP) – World Cup organisers on Tuesday announced a cheaper category of tickets after sustained criticism of the prices at the 2026 competition in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. FIFA, the governing body of world football, said in a statement that it had created “Supporter Entry Tier” tickets set at 60 US dollars each and available for all 104 matches, including the final.
It said the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament.” FIFA mentioned that the $60 (51 euros) tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 percent of each national federation’s allotment.
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Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical,” responded by saying that FIFA was offering too little. “While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE said Tuesday in a statement. Last week, FSE noted that ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar.
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final, it would cost them a minimum of $6,900,” it stated at the time, adding that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from $21 in a bid document released in 2018. On Tuesday, FSE said FIFA was reacting to complaints.
“For the moment, we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” FSE said. “This shows that FIFA’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and without proper consultation – including with FIFA’s own member associations. Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the 60 US dollar prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices, way higher than at any tournament before.”
The organisation also criticised the failure to make provisions for supporters with disabilities or their companions. Announcing the $60 tickets on Tuesday, FIFA said that national federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams.”
FIFA also stated that if fans bought tickets for games in the knock-out rounds only to find their team eliminated at earlier stages, they “will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed.” It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets” with 20 million requests already submitted. The draw for tickets of all prices in this first round of sales will take place on Tuesday, January 13.
© 2024 AFP
