FIFA has been accused of colluding with resale platforms in a bid to shift tickets for low-demand games – and avoid compensation claims from fans who have already bought them.
Vast swathes of tickets have appeared on reseller SeatGeek for Saudi Arabia’s clash with Cape Verde on June 26 in Houston.
In normal circumstances, resale sites would have seats dotted around venues, with fans across the stadium looking to sell in various numbers such as twos and threes.
However, entire rows and huge chunks of sections all situated together are now showing – prompting claims of collusion. FIFA have been contacted for comment.
The organisation has consistently warned fans not to buy tickets from resale platforms and instead use its own service, however, Austrian economist Florian Ederer spotted what he feels is evidence of a bid to sell tickets and swerve legal action. He posted a seat map on X showing the highlighted areas.
‘I believe we now have evidence of FIFA’s World Cup ticketing shell game,’ he explained.
A current map of available tickets for Saudi Arabia v Cape Verde on SeatGeek shows up swathes of available seats
Saudi Arabia take on Cape Verde in Houston on June 26
‘FIFA is colluding with third-party resale platforms for its own supply management. Look at this SeatGeek map (secondary market!) for Saudi Arabia vs Cape Verde. The circled areas are not random single resale tickets, but large, contiguous blocks of seats: entire rows and swaths in sections. The blue circles appeared weeks ago, then the purple blocks suddenly showed up a day or two ago, and the red blocks seem to have appeared recently too.’
Ederer added: ‘That’s not what ordinary fan or even commercial scalper resale looks like who resell pairs, fours, and scattered seats. Instead, this looks like inventory being dumped in bulk onto secondary markets, at prices below FIFA’s official site.’
Ederer then went on to explain his thoughts on why FIFA would take such an alleged step.
‘Why doesn’t FIFA just lower prices on its own site? Probably because official price cuts could trigger refund demands, chargebacks, or consumer-protection headaches from fans who already bought at much higher prices.
‘Instead FIFA keeps official prices high, avoids openly admitting the market-clearing price is lower, and moves unsold inventory through third-party resale platforms instead.’
Some have also pointed out that seats in the same areas for the match cost $700 on FIFA’s resale platform and $200 on SeatGeek.
FIFA has come in for huge criticism over inflated ticket prices for the tournament, which starts later this month. A seat at the final on July 18 can cost as much as £24,500.
New York and New Jersey attorney generals have subpoenaed FIFA, claiming fans have been misled about seat maps. SeatGeek have also been contacted for comment.
