FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended World Cup ticket prices on Wednesday, saying “if we are doing something wrong, everyone in North America is doing something wrong.”
FIFA priced tickets starting at $140 (€121) for the 48-nation, 104-game tournament that starts on Thursday and priced regular seats up to $8,680 (€7,518) for the 19 July final in New Jersey.
It raised prices for the final to $10,990 (€9,518) and then $32,970 (€28,556).
After criticism from fans, FIFA offered a small amount of $60 (€51) tickets to national federations for their regular supporters. Infantino said on Wednesday 130,000 tickets were offered at that price, out of 6-7 million total.
Infantino said the average ticket price was under $500 (€433) for the tournament and was comparable to other US sports during their playoffs, a claim that while true for resale prices does not appear to be accurate for list prices.
