Soccer’s international governing body FIFA is facing legal scrutiny over dramatically inflated World Cup ticket costs and sales methods that supporters claim resulted in unfavorable purchases.
Top prosecutors from New York and New Jersey, the state set to host eight tournament games including the championship match, revealed Tuesday they are examining whether FIFA’s ticket sales practices broke consumer protection regulations.
Legal officials have issued subpoenas to the worldwide soccer organization seeking details about various ticketing concerns, including FIFA’s implementation of “variable pricing” systems that caused ticket costs to skyrocket for most games and revised venue layouts that supporters claim moved their seats away from the field.
The prosecutors, collaborating with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, indicated their investigation centers mainly on ticketing procedures for games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive.”
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport accused FIFA of turning the act of buying a World Cup ticket “into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices.” It’s an honor for New Jersey to host the World Cup, she said, “but the event is not an invitation to exploit our residents and visitors.”
FIFA declined to comment.
The tournament begins June 11 with games in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico. The opening game at the approximately 82,000-capacity MetLife Stadium — temporarily called New York New Jersey Stadium for the tournament — features Brazil facing Morocco on June 13.
Certain seats for the July 19 championship are selling for almost $33,000.
Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed that 1,000 tickets — roughly 150 tickets for each MetLife Stadium contest, not including the championship — will be offered to city residents through a lottery process costing $50 per ticket.
FIFA had earlier offered some $60 tickets for every game, distributing them via the national organizations of the competing teams.
