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≡ SKY-HIGH PRICES ≡
High ticket prices have fan groups furious over the FIFA World Cup 2026, with the Football Supporters Europe fan group calling the pricing a “monumental betrayal.”
The British site TheGuardian.com reported:
“Clarity came from the Croatian football federation publishing prices in its participant member association (PMA) allocation, which is designed to be made available to fans who attend the most matches and means that tickets are sold at fixed prices rather than distributed via the controversial dynamic pricing system.
“The Croatian federation listed the cheapest tickets for the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 19 July at $4,185 (£3,120). The prices drew a furious reaction from FSE [Football Supporters Europe], which said the minimum the most dedicated fans can expect to pay to watch their team from the first match to the final would be $6,900 (£5,137.74) – five times more than it would have cost to do so when the World Cup was held in Qatar in 2022.”
Ticket allocations for the Participant Member Associations is to be about 8% of a stadium’s sales capacity. Pricing for the England Travel Supporters Club includes a minimum cost of $265 for the opener against Croatia in Dallas and $165 for the other Group L matches in Boston against Ghana, and Panama in New Jersey.
The Football Supporters Europe comment included:
● “Football Supporters Europe is astonished by the extortionate ticket prices imposed by FIFA on the most dedicated supporters for next year’s FIFA World Cup.”
● “In the price tables gradually and confidentially released by FIFA, tickets allocated to National Associations (PMA – Participating Member Association allocation), which typically distribute them via official supporters’ groups or loyalty programmes to their most devoted fans, are reaching astronomical levels. Based on the information currently available to FSE, if a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final through a PMA allocation, it would cost them a minimum of 6900 USD – nearly five times as much as during the FIFA WC 2022 in Qatar.”
● “Adding insult to injury, the lowest price category will not be available to the most dedicated supporters through their National Associations, as FIFA chose to reserve the scarce number of category 4 tickets to the general sales, subject to dynamic ticket pricing. This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is.”
The statement also noted that “[t]he bid document released in 2018 promised tickets priced as low as 21 USD. Where are these tickets now? The full way to the final, according to the same bid book, was supposed to cost 2242 USD in the cheapest category. This promise is long gone.”
The FSE call is for FIFA “to immediately halt PMA ticket sales, engage in a consultation with all impacted parties, and review ticket prices and category distribution until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”
FIFA has now opened registration for its third public ticket sales period, through 13 January, with the announcement stating “Ticket prices will remain the same throughout this sales phase.”
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