FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended the price of World Cup tickets, stating that they reflect the "absolutely crazy" demand for next summer's World Cup.
Recently, the pricing of tickets for the USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup has faced widespread criticism, with the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) describing it as "outrageous." The price of group stage tickets is three times that of the 2022 Qatar
World Cup, and the minimum ticket price for the final in New Jersey is as high as £3,119.
But Infantino said demand far exceeds supply.
"We have 6 to 7 million tickets on sale, and we received 150 million ticket purchase applications within 15 days," Infantino said. “So that's 10 million ticket applications every day. This fully demonstrates the great influence of the World Cup.”
“In the nearly 100-year history of the World Cup, FIFA has sold a total of 44 million tickets. So, in just two weeks, we could sell the total number of tickets sold in 300 years of the World Cup. Think about it, that's absolutely crazy.”
After criticism of the initial ticket prices, FIFA launched a small number of discounted tickets priced at £45, applicable to all 104 matches.
A FIFA official told Camel Live: “We listened to feedback and created this new ticket category.”
Infantino stated that the funds raised from ticket sales will be reinvested in global football, but he did not specify the amount.
"The key point is that the revenue generated should flow back to football around the world," Infantino said.
"Without FIFA, there would be no football in 150 countries around the world. Football exists because of the revenue we get from the World Cup and the reinvestment of that revenue everywhere."
