UEFA learn from FIFA's World Cup own goal with huge PR ticketing win

UEFA has promised to make future international competitions affordable for fans, ahead of a World Cup with soaring ticket costs.

Supporter groups have heavily criticised FIFA for its “price gouging” ahead of this summer’s tournament, with some tickets set to cost thousands, even for group stage matches.

However, fans will have no such problems in two years’ time when the European Championship comes to the UK and Ireland.

Tickets for the World Cup final will cost up to £6,000

In stark contrast to FIFA’s ticket pricing policy, UEFA has pledged to freeze the majority of ticket costs, ensuring fans can watch their nation at the international competition.

Tickets will be kept at the same rates they were for the 2024 tournament, where the cheapest entry to matches, or the “Fans First Ticket”, cost around £25.

This will come as good news to supporter groups, some of whom have even joined forces with the consumer rights watchdog Euroconsumers to raise formal complaints against FIFA at the European Commission, such is the outcry at this year’s World Cup ticket costs.

Four pricing categories are in place for the North America tournament, with the cheapest ticket starting at £45 for a group-stage game.

That may sound reasonable, but as few as two per cent of all tickets will have that price, and the cost rises sharply and quickly in subsequent categories, with the most expensive ticket for a group-stage match costing in excess of two grand.

What’s more, the prices rise further as the tournament progresses, with the cheapest face-value ticket for the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey an eye-watering £1,500, while the most expensive is around £6,000.

UEFA, meanwhile, has promised that 40 per cent of tickets for the next Euros tournament will be included in the “most affordable categories” ensuring more fans will be able to attend.

Those prices are over half the cost of a parking space for a World Cup group stage match this summer, with the parking fees for one car at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas set at $75 (£57) for some of the matches being held there.

FIFA has also been criticised for the commission fees it is charging on its official resale site, with fans picking up tickets from others who can no longer go charged even more than those paying face-value.

A 15 per cent sell-on fee is charged to both the seller and the buyer, something which Euroconsumers has described as being “to the detriment of consumer rights and interests”.