FIFA announces $60 World Cup tickets after backlash

Football’s global governing body FIFA has unveiled a new cut-price ticket category after a backlash by fans over pricing for the tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday that it had created a limited number of “Supporter Entry Tier” fixed at $60 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 stated that the $60 (51 euro) tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 per cent of each national federation’s allotment.

Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded by saying the FIFA was offering too little.

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“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 in a statement on Tuesday.

Last week, FSE said ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar, describing FIFA’s pricing for 2026 as a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup”.

“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final it would cost them a minimum of $6,900,” the FSE said, adding that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from $21 in a bid document released in 2018.

The draw for tickets of all prices in the first round of sales will take place on Tuesday, January 13.

The Star