A fresh batch of tickets for games in Toronto and Vancouver went on sale, fueling excitement and causing a scramble among fans. Adrian Ghobrial reports. <\/p>\n
TORONTO – Ahead of June\u2019s World Cup tournament, the worldwide governing body of soccer has released tickets to the upcoming matches in phases, leaving some fans and soccer pundits frustrated. <\/p>\n
With just 50 days to go before the World Cup kickoff, FIFA released a ticket drop on April 22, that was pitched as a \u201clast-minute sale\u201d with available tickets to each of the 104 World Cup matches. <\/p>\n
Almost instantly online, many people began questioning why FIFA still had available tickets to all of its games, with less than two months to go before kickoff. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been unsuccessful during the first couple phases of the ticket release and its left me really jaded by the whole process,\u201d says Rob Fielder, author of multiple soccer books including \u201cThe Complete History of the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Almost there. Don\u2019t move!\u2019 <\/p>\n
CTV National News logged onto FIFA\u2019s tickets website ahead of the 11am ET ticket release. We were promptly added to the online \u201cqueue\u201d and the words \u201calmost there\u201d appeared, written in bold at the top of the page. <\/p>\n
The web page also confirmed that our \u201cposition in the queue is secured. Don\u2019t move!\u201d<\/p>\n
Four hours later we were still, \u201calmost there\u201d while still waiting in queue, a red line showed that we\u2019d passed the halfway point of the queue. <\/p>\n
With a deadline to publish this report looming, and unable to simply sit there and wait for who knows how long, we logged off and left the queue, leaving FIFA\u2019s \u201clast-minute sale\u201d without the faintest chance to buy a pricey pair of seats to any of the matches. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a chaotic approach to ticketing, ticket prices and ticket releases,\u201d says Fielder. <\/p>\n
Fans voice frustrations over ticket chaos<\/p>\n
On social media this week, soccer fans have voiced their frustration with FIFA\u2019s ticket play. With some claiming that FIFA\u2019s phased approach to ticket sales is creating an artificial scarcity, to drive up ticket prices. <\/p>\n
FIFA creating artificial scarcity to pump up prices. <\/p>\n
Every single aspect of the ticketing process for this World Cup has been shameful. https:\/\/t.co\/rVF2ETGNFV<\/a><\/p>\n