When dealing with the disorganised criminal outfit that is FIFA (the mafia comparison only goes so far), the titan governing body of world football, subpar service and offerings promise to feature. As gulled fans, corporate clients, media hacks and political worthies seek their place at the Men’s FIFA World Cup being held in the US, Mexico and Canada this June, the feeling of being burgled should not be far from their minds. A great tournament of fleecing is in the offing.
Take, firstly, the risks for those seeking to enter the United States to see the matches. Last month, over 120 organisations, among them the American Civil Liberties Union, collectively issued a “travel advisory” tartly warning about “the Trump administration’s violent and abusive immigration crackdown”. No room for a softening of tone here. “The administration’s rising authoritarianism and increasing violence pose serious risks to all”. However, “those from immigrant communities, racial and ethnic policy groups, the LGBTQ+ individuals have been and continue to be disproportionately targeted and affected”.
Elements of the warning are enumerated: the arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention and/or deportation of non-US nationals, even those with prior authorisation to enter; selectively onerous restrictions on the entry or nationals, with partial or full restriction of entry on the citizens of 19 countries, including Afghanistan, a number of African states, Iran, Syria and Yemen; and partial restrictions on those from 20 (again, overwhelmingly African states, with the exception of Turkmenistan, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda). Certain visa applicants are also subject to social media screening and a search of their electronic devices, while those admitted risk enjoying the warm hospitality of “violent and unconstitutional enforcement, including racial profiling by law enforcement.” Should you find yourself in the less than commodious surrounds of immigration detention or custody, the “risk of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in some cases, death”, could not be ruled out.
Jamil Dakwar, the human rights program director at ACLU, was particularly withering about FIFA’s indifference. The footballing body had “been paying lip service to human rights while cozying up with the Trump administration, putting millions of people at risk of being harmed and their basic rights violated.” Paying lip service to human rights is precisely what FIFA, along with that other hegemon of sports administration, the International Olympic Committee, do with habitual ease. Ditto their response to environmental concerns, the cost of operating events on scale, and the damage done by construction and disruptions inflicted on the unsuspecting host cities.
The warning served to sting the US Travel Association, a non-profit organisation that lobbies and advocates for those in the travel industry. Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the body, put the case against the doom and gloom travel advisory: “There are legitimate ways to challenge policies you oppose and harming the livelihoods of American workers and businesses by frightening away visitors isn’t one of them.” And what of the visitors themselves?
The ticket prices have also proven so high as to engender vertigo and a nervous fiddling of the purse, accompanied by that prod “Is it all worth it?” The scandalously high costs drew even the brief attention of US President Donald Trump when asked whether he thought it appropriate that the minimum price of admission to the US World Cup opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12 was US$1,000. “I did not know that number,” he told the reporter in question. “I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay it either, to be honest with you.”
Last November, the New York Post, citing SeatPick as its source, reported that the tournament final scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey could end up being one of the most extortionately expensive events in sporting history. Even prior to releasing the tickets for public sale on December 11, 2025, FIFA was already selling private suits for the final match for a touch under US$200,000.
Prices have also shot up in the resale market. In February this year, four tickets for the final on FIFA’s resale platform came on the market for just under US$2.3 million apiece. FIFA president Gianni Infantino, that execrable fawner to authority, saw few problems with such inflation in comments made this month to the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. “If some people put on the resale market some ticket for the final at $2m, number one, it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2m, and number two, it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets.” And if such prices are to be found, blame the lack of regulations in the US regarding the resale of tickets.
Clumsily, Infantino further suggested that the resale value should not detract from the availability of 25% of the group stage tickets, available at a more modestly affordable $300. As for anyone willing to purchase a ticket for $2m, Infantino promised delivery, from no less a person than himself, of “a hot dog and a Coke”. What style, what polish.
The resale strategy adopted by FIFA has buccaneering stripes, exemplified by the adoption of dynamic pricing for ticket sales, the first time the men’s tournament has ever witnessed it in its 96-year history. The American market is there for the steal and Infantino and his cadres are salivating with opportunistic glee. FIFA, according to Will Leitch of the New York Magazine, controls the resale market, taking a 30% cut on all resale transactions. “Essentially, FIFA and Infantino are artificially inflating the price of tickets on resale markets they own and then claiming the prices are high because of demand that does not seem to exist.” Tickets were being purposely withheld “in order to create the illusion of scarcity”, something particularly evident in games featuring the United States.
A note of dampening negativity can certainly be found in some camps of punditry keen to scrape the gloss off the FIFA fleecing show. There are predictions of an undistinguished flop, disgraced by FIFA’s organisational skills and a domestic environment heated by the policies of the Trump administration. The American Hotel and Lodging Association’s survey of hotels in 11 host cities across the US found, at best, tepid enthusiasm for bookings related to the event. In Kansas City, host to matches involving Austria, Argentina and the Netherlands, an eye rolling 85% of hotels claimed to be still under-occupied.
Flight sales are also stuttering, which should come as no surprise, given the sharp rise in air travel brought out by the foolish, criminal endeavour known as the US-Israel-Iran War. The aviation analyst Cirium has provided data that advance bookings for July have fallen by 14% year-on-year. But for travellers from the UK, writes an optimistic Robert Jackman for The Telegraph, tickets between Heathrow to Dallas for those wishing to see England’s first match can be found at £1,000. British Airways were offering return tickets to Boston on either side of England’s match against Ghana for a cheaper £656. Ultimately, it comes down to how willing people are to be fleeced, and how deep their wells of masochism and money are.
Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
