Toronto's BMO Field has undergone a massive expansion, adding thousands of seats for fans to watch the six World Cup games it will host this summer.Eduardo Lima/The Canadian Press
FIFA suddenly introduced new premium-priced tiers of World Cup seats this week in the front part of its two most expensive sections, raising questions about whether fans buying tickets over the last eight months ever had a legitimate shot at securing the tournament’s best seats at the advertised price.
The move came as news broke that FIFA had changed the seating maps for its 16 stadiums in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, prompting confusion among ticket buyers and causing some tickets that were originally priced at top dollar to end up in inferior sections that had been less expensive when they went on sale last fall.
The two developments are the latest unexpected – and unannounced – bumps for fans in an eight-month global sales process for more than six million tickets that has prompted a rash of complaints over high prices and lack of transparency.
FIFA rolled out the new premium seats late Wednesday. Labeled Front Category 1 and Front Category 2, they are located in the front few rows of those ticketing categories, and priced at a steep markup.
For Team Canada’s first game, on June 12 in Toronto against Bosnia-Herzegovina, for example, Category 1 tickets were initially priced at $2,440 when they went on sale last fall. They were being offered at $3,135 as part of what FIFA is calling its Last-Minute Sales Phase, which began April 1. On Thursday, the Front Category 1 tickets were asking $4,705.
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Category 1 tickets for the Canada-Qatar game at Vancouver’s BC Place on June 18 were priced at $665 when they went on sale in October. On Thursday, Front Category 1 tickets were priced at $2,625.
The seats may have been designated for luxury hospitality sales but failed to sell: FIFA has required each stadium to set aside between 10 per cent and 14 per cent of its seats for VIP seats and media.
FIFA did not publicly announce the new category.
That move came as fans were complaining about another ticketing change that had recently come to light, after FIFA issued new seating maps of the stadiums that were different from the ones in use since last fall.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, met with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in October of last year, ahead of the World Cup draw. New premium priced tiers of World Cup seats were unveiled this week for games that will be played at Toronto's BMO Field, which has angered some ticket-buying fans.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
In some cases, the new maps expand the areas of ticketing categories into sections that are worse than originally promised.
In Toronto, for example, most of the upper-bowl sections 222 and 225 were labeled as Category 2 when tickets first went on sale. When fans received their ticket allocations last week, however, those sections had been reassigned as the more expensive Category 1.
Fans may not be soothed by the fact that the fine print of FIFA’s ticket purchase agreement, available on its website, had disclosed the maps were not intended to be taken literally. That read, in part: “Any visual representations of Ticket Categories on the Ticketing Website, such as Stadium maps and illustrations, are for guidance purposes only and may not reflect the actual layout and boundaries of a particular Stadium.”
FIFA has also refused to disclose how many unsold tickets remain, even as its president, Gianni Infantino, has boasted that the entire tournament is “sold out.”
In a press release announcing the Last-Minute Sales Phase, FIFA said it encouraged fans to check the official sales website on a regular basis, “as tickets that are temporarily unavailable may become available again.” It added that tickets “will continue to be released on a rolling basis, including same-day tickets for matches on occasion (subject to availability).”
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FIFA acknowledged a list of questions from The Globe and Mail about a number of issues related to ticketing, including the new ticket premium categories, the redrawing of the maps, and the remaining tickets, but it did not respond prior to deadline.
Peter Saar, a retired engineer in Toronto who regards attending the World Cup as a “bucket list thing,” said he was most bothered by FIFA’s lack of transparency.
“The whole thing is, nobody really knows,” he said. “I just can’t figure out, are the stadiums sold out? Are they not sold out? Are ticket prices going to drop right before the games?
“I think they’re creating the scarcity on purpose.”
Ahmad Jamous, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo and former competitive soccer player, said he had been looking forward to the World Cup coming to Canada “since it was announced” back in 2018. Now, he says he has no interest.
“I find it ridiculous that they’ve hiked up the prices this much,” he said on Thursday. “They’re just trying to see what they can get out of fans. It’s not something that sits right with me.”
Last month, a group of European fans filed a complaint over FIFA’s ticket practices with the European Commission in Brussels. That came after U.S. politicians chastised the organization and called on it to lower prices. Canadian politicians have taken no similar action.