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Continued public criticism of World Cup ticket prices
The International Football Federation (FIFA) announced that the number of attendees at the World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic (2-1) in Guadalajara this Friday morning reached 44,985.
But the expansion of vacant seats at the stadium has raised concerns about ticket prices and the level of demand for the expanded tournament, Reuters reports.
While more than 80,000 fans packed the Azteca Stadium to watch the opening match between host nation Mexico and South Africa, the appearance of the unsightly stands at the Guadalajara Stadium, which holds around 46,000, fueled criticism of FIFA’s commercial strategy of fielding the first team in World Group 4.
Doubts were also raised on social media about the number of fans announced by FIFA and whether it was higher than reality.
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Some fans inside the stadium blamed the increase in ticket prices for the emergence of these vacant seats, criticizing the pricing model followed by FIFA.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended ticket prices after public criticism, stressing that the prices are in line with major sporting events.
FIFA announced that more than 6 million tickets had been sold for the tournament, citing strong demand in various parts of the Americas earlier, with Infantino stating that demand had “exceeded expectations by ‘ten times or more'”.
However, associations such as Football Fans Europe have warned that “inflated” prices could alienate ordinary fans.
According to the association, ticket prices for this edition have increased by about 5 times compared to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
