World Cup fans scream ‘betrayal’ at ticket pricing

US President Donald Trump is presented with his ticket for the final by FIFA head Gianni Infantino

Supporters hoping to attend next year’s World Cup final face paying thousands of pounds for the cheapest ticket.

Fans’ group Football Supporters Europe has said it is “astonished” by Fifa’s “extortionate” pricing strategy, and called for ticket sales to be “halted immediately”.

The Football Supporters’ Association’s England Fans’ Embassy said it was a “slap in the face” for supporters.
Fifa has not yet commented on its pricing decisions.

BBC Sport understands tickets for the final in MetLife Stadium, New York, are in three tiers:
‘Supporter value tier’ - £3,119 ($4,185)
‘Supporter standard tier’ - £4,162 ($5,560)
‘Supporter premium tier’ - £6,615 ($8,860)

Tickets to Fifa’s showpiece event are as much as seven times more expensive than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the lowest price ticket at that event costing £450.

There are no concessions across any of its tickets for children or other groups.

And, in a departure from recent tournaments, group stage games are priced based on the perceived popularity of the teams involved, rather than at a flat rate.

This means, for example, England fans face paying more than Scotland.

Fifa has not provided details yet on how this “popularity” has been determined.

In Qatar, group stage fixtures had set prices of £68.50, £164.50 and £219.

But for England’s match against Croatia on June 17, tickets cost £198, £373 or £523.

England versus Ghana is £164, £320 and £447, with England versus Panama £164, £346 and £462.
Scotland’s first two group games are cheaper than England’s.

Against Haiti the prices will be £134, £298 or £372, with Morocco set as £163, £320 and £447. The final group game against Brazil is priced the same as England versus Croatia.

Quarter-finals for all teams are £507, £757 and £1,073, with the semi-finals £686, £1,819 and £2,363.

For the entire tournament through to the final, it will cost about £5,225 for one person to go to all eight matches, up to £8,580 in the mid-price range, or £12,357 for the top tier.

In 2022, it would have cost £1,466, £2,645 or £3,914, though that was for seven games rather than eight.

The details emerged as the main ticket ballot opened on Thursday afternoon.

On Monday, members of national supporters’ clubs will get the chance to enter a random draw for individual games, or to follow their team through to the final. There are about 4,000 tickets for each game available through the official supporters’ groups.

All other tickets are allocated through the ballot process, other than those held back by Fifa for corporate partners. Dynamic pricing is not being used in the main or national association ballots.

FSE explained why it was calling on Fifa to stop the ticket sale process, believing it needs to rethink the pricing policy.

“For the first time in World Cup history, no consistent price will be offered across all group stage games. Instead, Fifa is introducing a variable pricing policy dependent on vague criteria such as the perceived attractiveness of the fixture.

“Fans of different national teams will therefore have to pay different prices for the same category at the same stage of the tournament, without any transparency on the pricing structure enforced by Fifa,” it said.

The Football Supporters’ Association’s England Fans’ Embassy said: “These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the flagship tournament that appears every four years.

“A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out of the window and supporters of the participating nations have been completely let down.” 

(BBC sport)