Tickets for more than 20 World Cup matches are still unsold with just one day to go before Russia 2018 kicks off.
Russia’s opening game against Saudi Arabia only sold out yesterday (Tuesday), while tickets in two of the three pricing categories for England’s match against Tunisia on Monday are still available.
FIFA explained that the lack of sell outs is due to an extra 120,000 tickets only being released last week, rather than a lack of public interest. The FIFA ticketing website will remain open until the day of the final on July 15.
Tickets for the England game on Monday in Volgograd cost $210 (£157) and $165, and, according to FIFA’s website, the availability is “low”.
There are also plenty of tickets for low-profile games, such as Egypt’s meeting with Saudi Arabia, also in Volgograd, on June 25.
Other games with tickets available in two categories include Croatia v Nigeria in Kaliningrad, Colombia v Japan in Saransk, Nigeria v Iceland in Volgograd and Panama v Tunisia in Saransk.
FIFA has taken a strong stance against touts for the 2018 edition of the tournament, and last week filed a criminal complaint against Viagogo in Geneva, claiming a breach of the law on unfair competition.
A statement from FIFA said: “FIFA has received numerous complaints from individuals, consumer protection bodies and other market players over the opaque and deceptive business conduct of Viagogo AG.”
Last week, it was reported that more than 2.4 million tickets have already been allocated for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Most tickets have gone to fans from the host nation of Russia, who have notched 871,797 passes, with the next highest uptake coming from the USA with 88,825, despite the Americans not qualifying.
International demand for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia accounts for 54 per cent.
Image: Russia 2018
Share this