Soccer fans priced out of World Cup tickets
Print Edition
THE World Cup may be out of reach for many Chinese fans.
Soccer fans keen on watching the premier sporting event in Brazil have to register with FIFA’s official website and pray for luck as the tickets are chosen randomly, or buy them from an agent in the country.
But a China Central Television report on Tuesday claimed that the FIFA-appointed agent in China was selling tickets for the month-long event at a premium.
And in Shanghai, travel agencies were selling package tours to Brazil with prices starting from 300,000 yuan that are out of reach of the ordinary soccer-loving fans.
With China failing to make it to the World Cup, which kicks off from June 12, there are only about 700 tickets available for Chinese fans on the FIFA website. With hundreds of thousands registering on the site, winning a ticket is nothing more than a lottery.
The other options are a costly affair. A high-end travel package offered by online travel website Ctrip costs a whopping 397,500 yuan (US$64,105). It includes a 11-day tour covering four cities in Brazil and Argentina, including the World Cup final match. A 16-day tour package for five cities and tickets to the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final costs 575,000 yuan.
There are cheaper options.
A 12-day package that leaves Shanghai on June 16 and includes stops in four cities in the US and Brazil costs around 67,000 yuan per person. But the trip does not guarantee tickets to the game.
The tour will stop at Sao Paulo for a day and while the travel agency said it would try to get tickets to the game they made no promises. The package does not include ticket prices.
“To me, a price like that is just crazy,” said a local soccer fan Hu Yang, who works in a foreign bank. “I have lots of friends who follow soccer and who want to go to Brazil for the World Cup, but the prices are simply off-putting.”
The other option is to buy tickets from Shankai Sports, the exclusive agent appointed by FIFA in China to sell tickets. A CCTV report said instead of selling tickets, Shankai was packaging them with pricey tourist deals. The cheapest package costs around 30,000 yuan that includes a ticket for a group stage match. FIFA is selling the same ticket for around 4,000 yuan.
For a ticket to the opening match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12 in Rio de Janeiro, fans will have to shell out 98,600 yuan for a six-day package that does not include flight tickets! A ticket to the game cost US$4,050, or 25,099 yuan.
A Shankai staff said Chinese fans have to buy tickets from them or they could run into visa problems. She also claimed FIFA was selling tickets inclusive of accommodation along with other travel products. But FIFA denied it sold tickets with packages.
In an email to CCTV, FIFA said fans should buy tickets from appointed agents, “without having to purchase any other services such as travel or accommodation.”
FIFA also does not allow agents to sell tickets at inflated prices. But CCTV said Shankai sold a group stage match ticket for 13,000 yuan, while the actual price was just around 6,043 yuan.
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