World Cup ticket fiasco leaves fans outraged

FIFA is trying to clean up big mess at last minute

Here’s to hoping that soccer fans who tune in for the upcoming Women’s World Cup will have a better experience than those who actually purchased tickets for the event in France.

FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, came under fire a couple of weeks ago after fans who bought tickets discovered they had been issued separate seats from friends and family after buying the tickets together.

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Groups of people who bought tickets with the expectation they would sit together found out that their seats were either in separate rows or in different sections of stadiums.

Understandably, fans were upset and complained in droves to FIFA, which initially didn’t seem to be too compassionate about the problem, saying in the following Twitter post:

“Dear fans. We have noted some of your comments, re: your tickets. When you placed your order, a message indicating not all seats would be located (next) to each other did appear, before confirmation of your purchase. Unfortunately we will not be able to modify your order.”

After that, FIFA made another post saying an exception could be made for parents of underage children who ended up being in separate rows or sections, but that still didn’t sit well with fans. 

Roughly a week before the start of the tournament, FIFA appeared to backtrack amid the widespread rage and ridicule.

FIFA spokesman Will Shand said in an article on USA Today that local organizers were in the process of reallocating randomly separate seats that had been purchased together. 

Fans with separated seats are being asked to contact organizers via phone or email before arriving at the stadium so the tickets can be reallocated. 


About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.