As World Cup nears, controversies over ticket prices, team and fan access still swirl
The World Cup is the unquestioned king of sport, with more viewership and more revenue than any other sporting event on the planet, and it鈥檚 not even close. (Sorry, Summer Olympics.)
With that comes fascination, scrutiny, and yes, always some sprinkling of controversy. Here are three of the biggest off-the-pitch storylines of this World Cup.
Keep an eye out for our other World Cup explainer, which looks at why this edition is unlike any other in the history of the competition.
Why We Wrote This
The World Cup always brings a host of issues with it. But between astronomical ticket prices, combatant competitors, and immigration enforcement worries, this year鈥檚 edition seems to have more than its fair share.
1. Ticket prices are skyrocketing
Honestly, when was the last time anyone was happy about ticket prices? But even by the often-absurd economics of American sports, the tickets for this World Cup are shaping up to be an eye-watering exercise. The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey have even opened an investigation.
Where to start?
First, there鈥檚 the prices themselves. The most expensive block of tickets to the 2022 World Cup final were $1,600. For this year鈥檚 final, they were $6,730. And that was just at the beginning. Since then, they鈥檝e gone up. By April, those tickets were selling for $10,990,聽.
As tickets are sold and resold, those numbers increase further 鈥� and dramatically. As of April, ESPN found four tickets to the final selling on the official site of the organizing body, FIFA, for $2,299,998.85 each. If you鈥檇 like to bid, please make sure you have those 85 cents.
found that the lowest average ticket prices were in Miami ($276) with the highest in New York ($1,399).
And who even knows what seats you鈥檒l be getting?
FIFA sells tickets only in general zones, then assigns the seat later. But reports suggest FIFA has been changing the size and locations of zones, so buyers could be paying Category 1 prices for seats that, when they bought them, were in Category 2.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino says this is just a part of the North American market, which is partly true. Tickets for American sports聽 than in other countries.
But critics say a line has been crossed. 鈥淣o 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,鈥� said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
2. Will Iran be able to play in the U.S.?
Nobody knows what the state of the U.S. war with Iran will be when the World Cup starts on June 11. So what does that mean for the Iranian team?
President Donald Trump initially said Iran should not play, citing 鈥渢heir own life and safety.鈥� But Mr. Infantino has insisted that they will, and Mr. Trump eventually conceded. 鈥淕ianni is fantastic. He鈥檚 a friend of mine. He talked about it, I said, 鈥榊ou do whatever you want,鈥欌�� he said at a press conference in April.
The original plan was for the team to be based in Tucson, Arizona. But Iranian officials have since said they will train in Tijuana, Mexico, even though all three of their opening-round games are in the United States. (Two will be in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.)
The delegation will be watched closely, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional hearing.
鈥淲e have no problem with the athletes, as we stated earlier, or their support staff,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut what we鈥檙e not going to allow is for them to embed in their delegation a bunch of people that we know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties to the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] or things of that nature.鈥�
Relatedly, an Iraqi player was and an Iraqi photographer was denied entry to the U.S. when the Iraqi national team arrived in Chicago on June 5. ABC News reports that a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the photographer was 鈥渋nadmissible鈥� 鈥漝ue to classified information in accordance with U.S. law.鈥�
Amid war in Iran, its national team has been training in Turkey in recent months. They will play New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in the first round. If both Iran and the U.S. finish second in their groups, they would play each other in the knockout round of 32.
3. Will immigration enforcement be on patrol?
With support for its immigration policy ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has scaled back high-profile street arrests. Even so, tensions remain leading up to the World Cup 鈥� with some stadium workers concerned about the presence of immigration officers.
While Immigration and Customs Enforcement will have a presence, officers won鈥檛 鈥渞ound up鈥� noncitizens en masse, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Still, criminal investigators at ICE may pursue crimes like counterfeit tickets and sex trafficking tied to the event.
The arrival of millions of World Cup fans departs from the hard limits on who the administration typically lets in. Due to concerns around vetting, people from places such as Haiti and Iran are currently under a , though their teams have qualified to play. Separately, however, the State Department has waived a for athletes and certain ticket holders to attend the games.
Questions still hang over air travel. To punish 鈥渟anctuary鈥� cities that limit aid to ICE, Secretary Mullin has considered scaling back customs officials at those cities鈥� international airports. Critics say that plan would spell catastrophe for travel 鈥� in red and blue states alike.
