(The Center Square) — State prosecutors in New York and New Jersey launched a probe Wednesday into FIFA’s ticketing practices for the upcoming World Cup tournament in response to soaring prices and claims of fans being misled about seating locations.
New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced that they have sent subpoenas to FIFA president Gianni Infantino and others seeking information about the international group’s ticket policies which they said have exceeded prices for any previous World Cup tournament.
“New Yorkers have been waiting years for the World Cup to come to their backyard, and they deserve a fair shot at affordable tickets,” James said in a statement. “No one should be manipulated into paying sky-high prices for seats, and fans should be able to trust that the tickets they purchase will be the ones they receive.”
The AGs said investigators will examine how FIFA’s ticket release schedule, public statements and other actions may have contributed to prices. They New Yorkers who had not received the tickets they paid for to call the office or submit a complaint online.
The 2026 World Cup, which kicks off June 11, is co-hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and includes at least eight matches in New Jersey, including the June 19 final.
Tickets for the games have ranged from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars for the final round of matches. News reports have detailed stories of soccer fans who spent thousands of dollars on tickets through FIFA and didn’t get the seats they promised.
Davenport said FIFA has “turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices – all at the expense of consumers and hardworking New Jerseyans.”
“It’s an honor to host the World Cup, but the event is not an invitation to exploit our residents and visitors,” she said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from FIFA in response to the investigation, which has previously defended its “market rate” ticketing practices and blamed excessive prices for tickets to the matches on the resale market.
“If some people put on the resale market some tickets for the final at $2 million, number one, it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2 million, and number two, it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets,” Infantino said in remarks earlier this month. “And if somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2 million, I will personally bring a hot dog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience.”
