England football fans face paying 34 times face value prices on secondary ticket sites to see their country play at this year’s FIFA World Cup.
Organisers said that football fans from all over the world have entered 3.14 million requests during the current window, which opened on December 5 and closes on January 31.
However, tickets have found their way into the hands of scalpers that are inflating prices on the secondary market.
The most expensive Category 1 tickets for England’s opener against Panama were reportedly found on Ticketbis for £5,500, while the original price set by FIFA is £163. 
Category 3 seats are the cheapest for group games at £82 face value, yet they are still being found for resale at around £2,000 online.
In addition, a VIP box for the final on July 15 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, is £86,905 — almost 11 times the official FIFA asking price.
A West Ham Supporters’ Club member said, according to the Sun newspaper: “This is outrageous. Real football fans won’t have a chance to see England. It’s the people’s game but normal people are priced out.”
- Three million World Cup ticket requests in last month
- England’s World Cup ticket requests remain low
The first phase of sales, which closed in November, saw 740,000 tickets sold, which was 98 per cent of those available. More than 3.5 million requests were made during the first phase.
FIFA said that international demand accounts for 38 per cent of requests.
Last month it was revealed that England was in 18th position in terms of international fans’ applications, accounting for just 0.5 per cent of ticket requests during the second phase.
Eleven host cities will be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup. They are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
The 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums.
Image: FIFA
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