Trending 
United States (US) President Donald Trump has said he will not pay the $1,000-plus ticket price for the country’s first World Cup match, piling pressure on the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) over its high ticket prices.
Trump said this in an interview with The New York Post on Thursday.
“I did not know that number. I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn’t pay for it either, to be honest with you,” said Trump.
US lawmakers and International fan groups have slammed FIFA over its pricing structure for the tournament that kicks off in June, with Football Supporters Europe branding it a “monumental betrayal.”
Donald Trump expressed concern that lower-income Americans, a key voting bloc for him, could be priced out of attending the World Cup.
“If people from Queens and Brooklyn and all of the people that love Donald Trump can’t go, I would be disappointed, but, you know, at the same time, it’s an amazing success.”
“I would like to be able to have the people who voted for me to be able to go,” the billionaire Trump said. He takes credit for securing the World Cup for the US during his first term as President.
He is close to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who on Tuesday insisted the governing body was obliged to take advantage of US laws that allow tickets to be resold for thousands of dollars above face value. He added that FIFA received more than 500 million ticket requests for the 2026 World Cup, compared with fewer than 50 million combined for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The FIFA leader stated that 25 percent of tickets for the group phase were priced at under $300. Fan groups have contrasted this summer’s tickets with those for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. The top ticket price for the final has jumped from roughly 1,600 in 2022 to around 11,000 in 2026.
