FIFA have defended their World Cup ticket pricing policy and says genuine fans will be catered for as we prepare to find out who England will face in this Friday’s draw
FIFA have insisted thousands of affordable World Cup tickets will be “ring-fenced” to go on sale to England fans. Football’s world governing body will allocate eight per cent of its allocation for every England game to be sold to genuine supporters with prices starting at £45 in the Group stages, with the full price list yet to be confirmed.
It is being done to ensure that ticket prices will be fixed for genuine fans and they will be allocated via the Football Association who have their own England Supporters’ Travel Club. England will discover their opponents in Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington with the venues and full match schedule announced 24 hours later.
The tickets reserved for supporters of England – and every Participating Member Association – will go on sale from December 11 until January 13 and will include all the Group matches and throughout the knock-out rounds to the final on Sunday, July 19.
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General admission prices for the United States, Canada and Mexico have seen a steep rise in prices – including £400 for the United States’ opening fixture and the cheapest ticket for the final is £1,500 – but FIFA insist genuine travelling fans will be catered for.
A FIFA statement said: “FIFA can confirm ring-fenced allocations that are set aside for specific fan categories as has been the case at previous FIFA World Cups. These allocations will be set at a fixed price for the duration of the next ticket sales phase.
“The ring-fenced allocations include tickets reserved for supporters of the Participating Member Associations (PMAs), who will be allocated 8% of the tickets for each match in which they take part, including all conditional knockout stage matches.
“Please also be aware that ticket applications will also be based on a fixed price for members of the general public who are purchasing tickets during the Random Selection Draw, which will be launched on 11 December.”
FIFA has faced criticism over its pricing model for the World Cup which is being hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It took a deliberate decision to use “adaptive pricing” which they say is different to dynamic pricing which sees tickets go up dramatically in value according to demand.
The British Government is introducing legislation to crack down on “dynamic pricing” after the furore surrounding the sale of Oasis concert tickets last summer which saw them go on sale for huge inflated prices on secondary ticket websites.
FIFA cannot cap the prices of tickets because the secondary sales market is legal in the US and Canada and accounts for a multi-billion dollar business. Mexico has different rules and there is no secondary market with prices capped for games in the country.
FIFA has launched its own resale site to stop fans being tempted to go onto other platforms where the profit will go to ticket touts where a 15 per cent levy will be charged to the buyer and seller.
More than six million tickets will go on sale for the tournament, two million have been sold already and sales through the FIFA resale site have been “minimal.” But FIFA insist that tickets are on sale first and foremost through usual channels and any profit – including that from their own resale site – goes back into football and they say over 50 per cent of federations rely on FIFA revenue to survive.
FIFA said: “The pricing model adopted for FIFA World Cup 26 reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events in our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included.
“This is also a reflection of the treatment of the secondary market for tickets, which has a distinct legal treatment than in many other parts of the world. We are focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans.
“It is important also to add that stadium category maps do not reflect the number of tickets available in a given category but rather present default seating locations. FIFA resale fees are aligned with North American industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors.
“It is important to note, as a not-for-profit organisation, the revenue FIFA generates from the World Cup is reinvested to fuel the growth of the game (men, women, youth) throughout FIFA’s 211 member associations globally.
“As a matter of fact, FIFA expects to reinvest more than 90% of its budgeted investments for the cycle 2023-2026 back in the game to significantly boost global football development.
“Without FIFA’s financial support more than 50% of FIFA’s Member Associations could not operate.”
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