John Reid, Guildford and Surrey Socialist Party
The draw for the 2026 World Cup saw FIFA President Gianni Infantino grovelling to US President Donald Trump, awarding him a peace prize (irony is dead).
There is also talk of a long Super Bowl-style break at half-time in the World Cup final, which will be a bonanza for corporate advertisers. Also, planned drinks breaks in matches for players will allow for advertising.
FIFA, the football world governing body, is set to make over $10 billion from the tournament.
Exclusive deals with McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Bank of America and others will boost these corporation’s profits and also the coffers of FIFA.
Fans of Scotland and England will be hit with massively inflated ticket prices. Many of these fans travel the world to follow their national teams. Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are among the teams in the play-offs in March and could face even higher costs with less time to buy.
Rip off
Some standard group stage tickets will be priced at $700 and the cheapest ticket to the World Cup final will be priced at $8,680, up nearly $2,000 on prices quoted in October.
Category 1 tickets for games such as England vs Croatia or Scotland vs Brazil have risen to $445 before the World Cup draw to $700. Category 1 prices have risen for 80 of the 104 matches, in some cases by 71%.
Corporations will, or already have, bought up hundreds of thousands of tickets. World Cup tickets, travel and hotel packages for fans will be at extortionate prices taxing the loyal working-class fans, who see football as a joyful escape from the drudgery of everyday life (in 1966 I watched England vs Argentina for less than the equivalent of $1).
For other countries like Haiti, the average month’s wage in the Caribbean nation is around $147 but the cheapest tickets for Haiti’s first game at the World Cup in 52 years, against Scotland, cost $180.
Previous issues of my book Reclaim the Game outline the corruption of football governing bodies. Like any other multibillion dollar corporations they are rotten to the core and the real fans are priced out.
