According to camel.live's latest report, The Football Association (FA) will contact FIFA to convey fans' concerns. Earlier reports indicated that the cheapest tickets for England fans at next year's World Cup are actually more than ten times higher than the prices originally promised during the United States, Canada, and Mexico's bid.
FIFA announced that the cheapest group stage tickets for members of England's official fan club are $220 (￡165) – while the minimum price stipulated in the bid documents should be $21 (approximately ￡15.70).
More shockingly, bid documents on FIFA's website show that the cheapest final tickets were supposed to be ￡95, but the minimum price for England fans to buy final tickets is as high as ￡3,129 – more than 30 times higher than the bid commitment.
Some industry insiders believe that the 8% ticket quota for certain England matches may not even be sufficient.
Such exorbitant prices have prompted the German Football Association (DFB) to state that they "would prefer more affordable ticket prices" but can do nothing about it. The FA, which is not responsible for setting ticket prices, has not yet commented on the matter, but it is understood that it will communicate with FIFA to convey the concerns raised by football supporters' associations.
Reporters also learned that the FIFA Council, the organization's highest governing body, was not consulted or informed about the ticket pricing strategy announced on Thursday.
FIFA now estimates it will generate $3.3 billion in revenue, nearly double the previous estimate. Fan leaders stated that this proves the organization prioritizes its own profits rather than making the tournament affordable for fans.
The bid documents stated that the cheapest Category 4 tickets would account for 7% of the total tickets, lower than in previous tournaments, "taking into account the special needs of our ticketing market". FIFA promised that some Category 4 tickets would be priced as low as $60, but it is believed that the proportion of tickets at this price is extremely low – far below 7% of the total.
The Football Supporters Europe (FSE) called the ticket prices a "huge betrayal", a revelation that has sparked criticism in many participating countries.
DFB Managing Director Andreas Rettig said: “From Germany's perspective, the World Cup is far away, and traveling from Germany to the Americas to watch the games itself requires considerable effort and high travel costs.
That's another reason why we hope fans can buy more affordable tickets. Ticket prices are entirely determined by FIFA, and the DFB has no say in the matter. We were only informed of the prices a few hours before the application period opened.”
FIFA declined to comment but previously acknowledged that due to the adoption of a dynamic pricing system, ticket prices fluctuate based on demand, so it cannot provide the specific proportion of Category 1 to 4 tickets. FIFA's system also has its own resale platform where tickets can be legally sold, with FIFA taking a 30% commission from each transaction.
