The FIFA World Cup is never an event of capitalism where monopolized propaganda would work with its classist vision of economy, but in today’s world, everything is possible. Football is the sport that stays at the heart of many countries, and many of those countries consist of a massive number of common people, unlike rich countries, where most people are rich or billionaires.
The super-expensive tickets of the 2026 World Cup have already created a massive amount of anger and disappointment among the fans from different countries, as they are not even able to pay the ticket price to support their nation at the world’s biggest sports event. The Football Supporters’ Association has called ticket prices a “laughable insult” to fans.
The ridiculously high price shows that the cost of group-stage tickets is going to be higher than a month’s wages in that country. Other than just tickets, fans will also have to take care of travel and accommodation, and this seems like an impossible international trip.
The price policy for FIFA has been announced on Thursday, and the group-stage tickets are up to three times the prices of those for Qatar in 2022. Can you imagine the fact that the cheapest ticket for the World Cup final is selling at £3,119?
After revealing the ticket prices, FIFA also declared on Friday that it has received over five million ticket requests from fans in more than 200 countries in the 24 hours, to reduce the price of tickets, or else they would not be able to support their home countries. FIFA has included 48 teams in the World Cup, and many nations are in the list for the first time.
Just like FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, “Football is more than Europe and South America. Football is global,” and so, the price of the tickets should be set based on the financial and economic conditions of every country. Gianni also added, “The football fever you have in a country that qualifies for the World Cup is the most powerful tool you can have, in those nine months before qualifying and the finals.” However, it seems like it is slowly becoming an entertainment for rich folks only.
It is a very inconsiderate decision by the organizers, where they added the poorest countries in the list of participating countries, but the ticket prices are not reduced for them, and so, most people would not be able to come to support their players, even if they want to. Haiti is the best example here, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the average wage in the Caribbean nation is around $147 a month.
Jojo Quansah, one of the supporters of Ghana, said, “It’s a bit of a disappointment for those who, for the last three-and-a-half years, have been trying to put some money away in the hope that they can have their first World Cup experience,” and now, he cannot support Ghana. Perhaps the USA should have never hosted the event in the first place, as they do not understand Football at all.