Fifa Confederations Cup 2017 organisers are to offer “obese” tickets to larger supporters attending the event in Russia this summer.
The ‘special access’ seats are in easy-access areas around the host stadiums and are extra-wide. However, people who purchase the tickets are asked to provide a doctor’s note stating their body mass index (BMI) during the application process.
On the organisers’ official website, Fifa define “obese persons” as “people with a BMI that is equal to or exceeds 35 kg/m2”.
The website also states: “Please be courteous to the other fans, and only apply for these tickets if you truly require them. They are limited in number due to stadia configuration.”
The special access tickets could become a standard option for future Fifa tournaments if it proves to be popular in Russia and at the 2018 World Cup.
Category One group matches are priced at £110 for both standard and special access seats.
According to UK news website the Independent, this is not the first time Fifa has experimented with separate tickets for larger supporters. For the 2014 World Cup in Brazil fans had the option of buying tickets for a double-width reinforced seat, which could comfortably seat fans weighing up to 40 stone. These tickets were advertised with a 50 per cent discount if a doctor’s note could be provided. But controversies soon developed when UK newspaper The Sun revealed some of these tickets were being sold at twice the price of the cheapest standard seats.
In January, Confederations Cup organisers described themselves as “pretty much content” with fan demand as it was announced that around 80,000 tickets were requested during the first round of sales.
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