FIFA President Defends World Cup Ticket Prices

WASHINGTON, June 11 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that demand for tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has reached "unprecedented" levels while defending ticket prices against criticism that they are too high for some fans, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

“We sold until today over 6 million tickets," Infantino said at a news conference in Mexico City. "The demand has been unprecedented...The number of ticket requests we received has been absolutely incredible."

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to kick off across the US, Canada and Mexico, a massive surge in ticket prices compared with 2022 has drawn criticism, taking a toll on football fans' wallets and threatening to leave many on the sidelines.

Infantino said the organisation recently released 130,000 additional tickets, with prices starting at US$60, a figure he argued compares favourably with those of major sporting events in North America.

"The starting price is US$60," Infantino said. "The market is what it is."

Addressing criticism over ticket costs, Infantino argued that selling tickets at lower prices would have fuelled resale activity and driven prices even higher on secondary markets.

"If you sell them at a lower price point, they would have gone — which is perfectly legal in this country — to secondary markets at much, much, much higher prices," he said.

"Where would the money go then? To those who organise secondary-market or black-market activities and not to football."

Infantino said FIFA's pricing model is designed to ensure revenue generated by the World Cup is reinvested in the sport worldwide.

"Every dollar that comes in goes back into the development of football," he said. "We have one competition every four years that generates revenue."

The FIFA president also described attending the World Cup as a unique opportunity for supporters, noting that pricing reflects both local market conditions and the scale of the event.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Infantino said. "When you are in a country, when you are in a part of the world, you need, of course, to deal with the local habits and the local customs."

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU