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Soccer fans have launched a formal complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over World Cup ticket prices.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said on Tuesday it joined with consumer group Euroconsumers to allege soccer's world governing body had abused its position to impose excessive prices.
FSE accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" in December when tickets were put on general sale ranging from $140 for the cheapest group games to $8,680 for the final. The cheapest tickets for the final were $4,185 but all prices are subject to change as FIFA is employing dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
"FIFA holds a monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be acceptable in a competitive market," FSE and Euroconsumers said in a joint statement.
Following a backlash from fans in December, FIFA slashed some ticket prices to $60 for every round through to the final, which teams could distribute to their most loyal fans.
Beside the exorbitant prices, FSE also claimed FIFA deployed pressure selling tactics and cricitized the transparency of the process.
It has called for prices to be frozen during the next round of sales in April and for dynamic pricing to be stopped when selling to fans in Europe.
"Dynamic pricing turns fans' loyalty into a bidding war, inflates costs without added value, and locks out many supporters," said Els Bruggeman, head of policy and enforcement at Euroconsumers.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in January that the demand for tickets was the equivalent of "1,000 years of World Cups at once". He said all 104 matches at the World Cup would be sold out, meaning "tickets will probably be resold at even higher prices."
FSE was also critical of FIFA's official resale platform, which has seen tickets listed well in excess of their face value and from which the governing body takes a 30% cut from any sale.
"FIFA point to their unconfirmed sales figures as validation of their unfair ticket practices, while the reality is they leave loyal fans with no other choice — pay up or lose out," said Ronan Evain, executive director for FSE.
FIFA told the Associated Press that it had not formally received the complaint. It added that as a not-for-profit organization, revenue from the World Cup was reinvested to grow soccer.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
