Fifa has revealed the ticket prices for the 2018 World Cup, with the cost of the cheapest tickets available for foreign fans increasing more than 16% since 2014.
The most affordable tickets for group stage games will sell for $105, a $15 increase on the equivalent tickets in Brazil two years ago. The most expensive “category one” tickets for the final retail at $1,100, up from $990 for the Rio de Janeiro showpiece two years ago – a rise of $110.
Russian residents are being offered sharply discounted rates, with their cheapest tickets on offer at 1,280 rubles (approx $20) for group matches, an increase on the equivalent prices for the 2014 tournament but roughly in line with prices South African fans paid in 2010.
The Fifa secretary general, Fatma Samoura, said: “We wanted to make sure that we priced tickets fairly to make the events accessible to as many people as possible. We therefore conducted thorough market research and have priced the tickets accordingly.”
Ticket sale information will be released following next year’s Confederations Cup, which also takes place in Russia between 17 June and 2 July 2017.
Meanwhile, new Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura says extra security measures are planned for the 2018 World Cup following hooligan violence at the European Championship.
Russian fans, some equipped with martial arts gear, clashed with English supporters in Marseille city centre and inside the stadium during the tournament in France.
Asked about fears that such violence could be repeated in Russia, Samoura said “there will be additional measures,” including known troublemakers being banned from stadiums.
Samoura’s predecessor Jérôme Valcke has had his ban from football cut from 12 to 10 years on appeal. Valcke was fired by Fifa this year over a ticketing and World Cup broadcasting rights scandal, plus expenses abuses such as using private flights for personal use.
Fifa says its appeals committee ruled the ethics judges were too severe with Valcke over the World Cup TV rights.
The appeals panel ruled that “mitigating factors had not been fully assessed” relating to television rights for the Caribbean for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Fifa sold those rights to the control of long-time vice president Jack Warner for a “fee far below their actual market value,” Fifa says. Valcke can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
