Fifa’s failure to address concerns over access to tickets for disabled supporters at the 2026 World Cup is “unacceptable”, a charity has said. <\/p>\n
Disabled fans face paying more to attend games as there are no tickets available to them in the lowest-priced tier of the general allocation.<\/p>\n
Personal assistants have been told they will have to pay the full price of a ticket, rather than receive a free or concession rate. Fifa says it cannot guarantee that they will get a seat next to the disabled fan they have taken to the game. <\/p>\n
There is also uncertainty over how many tickets will be made available to wheelchair users and the number of easy access spaces.<\/p>\n
Level Playing Field says it “raised serious and legitimate concerns” with Fifa more than three weeks ago but has not received a response. <\/p>\n
It has now written to national governing bodies and the secretary of state for culture, media and sport. <\/p>\n
“This ongoing uncertainty over accessible ticketing is unacceptable,” said Tony Taylor, the chair of Level Playing Field. <\/p>\n
“The current situation appears to expect disabled fans to gamble on cost and access.<\/p>\n
“Planning, personal assistants and pricing are vital considerations for disabled fans, as repeatedly shown in Level Playing Field Annual Fan Survey data.<\/p>\n
“Restricting access to the lowest pricing tiers and charging for personal assistants, add unavoidable, additional, disability-related costs to attending.<\/p>\n
“Instead of addressing the issue and communicating with supporters effectively, the current response has only been to delay and ignore.”<\/p>\n
Fifa has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n
World football’s governing body has been heavily criticised for its high pricing structure<\/a> at this summer’s event in the United States, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n It eventually bowed to pressure by releasing a small number of “more affordable” $60 (\u00a345) tickets<\/a> to general fans for all 104 matches. But there has been no such flexibility for disabled fans.<\/p>\n