“Usury”
Because of ticket prices: FIFA is threatened with trouble
Updated May 28, 2026 – 8:34 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The debate about the sale of tickets for the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico is entering the next round. Now public prosecutors are getting involved.
Fifa may be facing legal trouble shortly before the World Cup: The attorney general’s offices of New York and New Jersey announced on Wednesday an investigation “into the ticket sales practices of the world football association.” Prosecutors Letitia James and Jennifer Davenport said the reasons were rapidly “skyrocketing prices” and reports that fans were being deceived about the location of their seats.
Davenport is determined to “conduct a thorough investigation into FIFA’s conduct” because the world governing body has turned ticket sales for the World Cup (June 11 to July 19) into “a gauntlet of confusion, artificial shortages and impossibly high prices.” The investigation will investigate reports that fans were misled about seating locations and disadvantaged by aggressive, demand-driven pricing, in which prices increase based on sales.
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The debate primarily revolves around the final in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just outside New York; a total of eight World Cup games will take place in the NFL stadium of the New York Giants and Jets. In addition to tickets, public transportation from New York to the stadium costs more than $100, while parking costs $225. California is also investigating suspicions of ticket usury at the World Cup.
“New Yorkers have waited years for the World Cup to come to their neighborhood and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” said James, the state’s attorney general. “No one should be manipulated into paying exorbitantly high prices for seats, and fans should be confident that they will receive the tickets they purchased.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended ticket prices for the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada at the beginning of the month. “We have to look at the market – we are in the market where the entertainment industry is the most developed in the world. So we have to apply market prices,” he said. The fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has already criticized the “usurious” prices at the XXL tournament.
