Next Thursday, September 7, the Argentine National Team will debut against Ecuador for the South American qualifiers for the next World Cup in 2026. The game will begin at 9:00 p.m. and will be at the Most Monumental Stadium, the iconic home of River Plate and the national team for many years, which recently underwent renovations to improve its capacity, which today has reached 84,567 people.
Although it seems to be a normal playoff start, the truth is that what is new is in the way in which several of the tickets for the match were purchased. On Wednesday, August 30, the Argentine Football Association (AFA), announced a very striking and important project not only for now, but for the nearest future: AFA ID. This platform proposes a kind of association with the selection, through plans that, depending on the level purchased, include different benefits, something like paying a club fee, but with the national team. And in some cases, too onerous.
In the press conference prior to the start of the qualifiers, they asked Lionel Scaloni himself, the DT of the Selection, about the onerous ticket price. “I had to buy nine, so imagine…” he said. And he completed: “I pay them, of course, how can I not pay them? Later, if you want, I’ll show you the receipt.”
Scaloni said that he spent “900 thousand and something…”. “It’s hard for me, like everyone else. But I’m nobody to set the price of the tickets. If it were up to me, let people go for free. What can I do? I can’t do anything about this,” the coach concluded. .
The bronze age (silver and gold).
The project proposes 3 types of association, 3 types of quotas which present both different prices, as well as different benefits and quotas. The sale of tickets for local matches of the scaleneta will continue to be through sportick (www.sportick.com), but there will be a number of tickets reserved for users of AFA ID.
To get the association, you must enter www.portal.afa.com.ar and register. Bronze, silver and gold are the names of the 3 types of subscription: The pack Bronze costs 24,000 pesoss (in a single payment and must be renewed annually), includes priority in the purchase of tickets (they are purchased separately, the value of the pack does not include the ticket itself). These range from 19,000 pesos to 89,000 pesos (San Martin and Belgrano Media), as well as priority in the pre-sales of the new team shirts, as well as a digital card, participation in raffles of different kinds and a Newsletter with exclusive content. of the campus
Unlike the bronze package, both the silver and gold plans are valid until 2026, and the cost exceeds one and a half million pesos. In the first instance, the Silver Member costs a total of 1.9 million pesos and one of the great benefits is obtaining a preferential audience for all the parties, which, in case of not being able to attend, can be released and get a monetary return. Another feature is the FastPass, which means fast entry to the stadium through exclusive access, without the need for a physical ticket and only with the National Identity Document (DNI). The other difference with the previous partner is the priority, without guarantee and with limited places, to access tickets for the Copa América 2024 (which will happen in the United States) and of the next World Cup. Includes the same benefits as bronze (Newsletter, raffles and t-shirt priority) but in this case, The delivery of a physical silver card is also added, with a welcome kit.
To finish, the Gold Member, the most expensive and the most controversial genre of this project. Has a cost of 4.9 million pesos (all these packs are valid for a single person, they do not include family members and minors must also have one) and the big difference with the previous one is that this one does offer and guarantees a quota for the purchase of tickets for the next events of the selection, tickets that must be purchased within a limited period of time that will be announced when there is less time left for the competitions. Beyond that, the Gold Member has the same benefits as the silver one, changing the silver card for a gold one and little else.
This new project, as well as acclaimed, also was seen with very bad eyes by many people within the sports environment, branding the AFA as opportunistic for wanting to take advantage of the post-world euphoria to get more money. The truth is that although the plan aims to last many more years, it does not take away the possibility of purchasing tickets for matches or for the World Cup for those who are not associated, it simply sets a percentage of tickets for those who can and want to stick to the plans.
Another of AFA’s objectives with AFA ID is ensure that the vast majority of the fans present are Argentine (or at least having the nationality), since the DNI is a mandatory requirement. In the case of minors under 16 years of age, they can purchase the plans, as long as they have a statement from their father/mother/guardian endorsing the purchase.
The goal is to generate a kind of more real relationship between the fan and the team, which most of the time occurs between the fan and their team due to closeness and passion. The best way they found was through “paying the fee”, as is the case in clubs across the country.
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