Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended the steep ticket prices for this year’s World Cup in North America, asserting that the global spectacle serves as the organization’s sole source of income every four years.
Speaking at Semafor’s annual world economy summit in New York, Infantino reiterated Fifa’s status as a non-profit organization with 211 member nations.
“What many people don’t know, because of course we generate billions in a World Cup, people don’t know Fifa is a non-for profit organization, which means all the revenue we generate, we invest them in the organization of the game, in 211 countries all over the world,” Infantino stated during a Q&A session.
He added that “three quarters of (those countries) probably would not be able to have organized football without the grants we could give them. So we always try to find the right balance.”
Checks on secondary ticketing site StubHub on Friday revealed exorbitant costs, with the least expensive ticket for the United States’ opening World Cup fixture on 12 June against Paraguay listed at $1,359, while tickets in the lower bowl of the Los Angeles venue were priced as high as $14,000 per seat.
For the World Cup final in the New York area on July 19, a single ticket in the upper deck was priced at $8,860 and as much as $25,000 in the lower bowl.
Following initial complaints regarding prices and availability, Fifa introduced a $60 option, though this represented only a small allocation for each venue.
Infantino stressed: “The main, and so far the only, revenue-generating event for Fifa is the World Cup.”
He explained that “the World Cup takes place one month every four years, so we generate money in one month. The 47 months until the next World Cup, we spend that money.”
He described North America as “a very special market”, noting he has been residing in the United States for the past two to three years to better “understand” it.
This year’s tournament will feature a record 48 teams, organized into 12 groups of four, with matches hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The competition is set to comprise an unprecedented 104 games.
