FIFA is facing fresh accusations of working with resale sites to offload tickets for games fans aren’t rushing to buy. The goal? Move those seats and avoid paying back fans who already got stuck with them.
The latest case is Saudi Arabia vs Cape Verde on June 26 in Houston. Instead of random single seats you’d expect, whole rows and big blocks of tickets suddenly popped up together on SeatGeek. That’s what raised eyebrows.
Economist Florian Ederer shared a seat map on X showing the massive chunks all sitting together. He called it FIFA’s “World Cup ticketing shell game” and says it looks like a planned move to shift low-demand tickets.
FIFA has always told fans to avoid resale sites and buy only through its official platform. But Ederer’s post is fueling claims that FIFA itself is now feeding tickets to resellers. FIFA has been contacted for comment.