That is logical if the principle is one of pure capitalism, i.e. charge what the "market" will tolerate. But if the principle is one of inclusivity, a claim made by FIFA that the 2026 World Cup will be the most inclusive ever, then setting prices that potentially exclude genuine fans means that claim is a lie.

What is happening is a general monetisation of sport and indeed music, where fans pay extortionate prices often for a seat so far away from the game or performer, that one may as well watch it on TV, indeed one often finishes up watching big screens to see the action!


In addition if you pay the £500 or so for the guaranteed matches – the three group games – now if you want to go to them. However, if you want to have a ticket from that 8% allocation, you have to pay the £4,500 for knockout games in advance too, however slim your team’s chance of progress may be. You would have to pay that five grand on your credit card in January, and if England fail then you possibly might not get the refund until September; the terms and conditions give Fifa 60 calendar days to cough up once a team is eliminated – minus their $10 admin charge.

Oh and it also seems that the official resale site run by FIFA, claims 30% commission on the resale price, 15% from the seller and 15% from the buyer! is there no end to FIFA's scalping?

I understand FIFA have defended the prices based on their premise that all funds are reinvested in football, presumably minus the the cost of awarding the orange buffoon a "peace prize" and the cost of the staging the world cup draw fiasco and as you say the salaries of the FIFA illuminati, plus I guess their extensive travel and hospitality!

But football is supposed to be the peoples game, the atmosphere in stadiums isn't generated by the "suits" in executive boxes, it comes from the passionate fans and this is especially the case at a World Cup where fans from across the globe are an essential part of the spectacle, but are priced out in favour of those who have the means to pay to attend, but whose interest in the game is cursory at best.

Is there an answer? Well yes IMO there is, FIFA could have set a price that was within reach of the majority of football fans. Yes demand would be in excess of supply, but that's always going to be the case and a ballot system give everyone the chance to participate. That would be a truly inclusive World CUP, rather than a market orientated money generation exercise that essentially means football is now just another commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.

For myself, I have a set of criteria which determines whether I will pay to watch football or go to a gig. A ceiling on the price that I am prepared to pay to watch multi millionaires and a seat that gives me a good view of the action. I may miss out, but then I can get the same satisfaction from watching lower league or non league football and lesser known but talented artists, or even in many cases well known artists who don't rip their fans off.