FIFA president Gianni Infantino appears to blame US resale market for sky-high World Cup prices
FIFA President Gianni Infantino says if fans don’t like the sky-high prices for this year’s World Cup, then too bad!
He claimed this week that officials jacked up prices for this summer’s games — where the cost of a ticket to the final is nearly $13,000, compared to about $1,600 for the 2022 championship — because resellers in the US would charge exorbitant fees, anyway.
“We have to look at the market. We are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market rates,” Infantino said Tuesday at the glitzy Milken Institute conference in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“In the US, it is permitted to resell tickets, as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price,” he said of the prices that are out of reach for many hard-working Americans.