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New Delhi: Fans' group Football Supporters Europe has red flagged the exorbitant ticket prices for the FIFA World Cup next year.
Fans have to shell out a minimum of £3,119 ($4,185) tickets in the 'supporter value tier', making the price of the cheapest tricket increased by almost seven times compated to the 2022 World Cup.
In Qatar, the lowest-priced tickets that were sold openly was £450 (around $603) while ticket prices for the 'supporters standard tier' this time would be £4,162 ($5,560), in comparison to with £747 (approx $1002) in 2022.
Raising concern about the extremely high prices, FSE urged FIFA to stop the ticket sale process in order for a rethink of the prices.
Fifa should "immediately halt PMA [Participating Member Association allocation] 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," FSE said.
"In the price tables gradually and confidentially released by Fifa, tickets allocated to National Associations, which typically distribute them via official supporters' groups or loyalty programmes to their most devoted fans, are reaching astronomical levels.
"National team supporters are expected to pay this full amount in early 2026 to have the opportunity to follow their team up to the final.
"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 four tickets to the general sales, subject to dynamic ticket pricing.
FSE said that introduction of different price ranges for the first time in the tournament history with out any transparent policy smacks of exploitation.
"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," FSE said.
"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.
"The bid document released in 2018 promised tickets priced as low as $21. Where are these tickets now? The full way to the final, according to the same bid book, was supposed to cost $2,242 in the cheapest category. This promise is long gone."
