FIFA responded to New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani\u2019s campaign to get soccer\u2019s global governing body to drop its plan for dynamic pricing for next year\u2019s World Cup, jointly being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Democrat socialist launched a petition Tuesday night<\/a> that he called \u201cGame Over Greed\u201d and demanded FIFA not use the pricing model, cap resale ticket prices and put aside 15 percent of tickets at a discounted rate for local residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement provided to The Post on Wednesday, a FIFA spokesperson defended dynamic pricing as a \u201cdeveloping market practice\u201d and said that it would be setting aside tickets for \u201cspecific fan categories\u201d that will be at a \u201cfixed price.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants FIFA to change the dynamic pricing model for the 2026 World Cup. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n \u201cThe pricing model adopted generally reflects the existing and developing market practice in our co-hosts for major entertainment and sporting events on a daily basis, soccer included,\u201d the spokesperson said.\u00a0\u201cWe are focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans, and are offering group stage tickets starting at $60, a very competitive price point for a major global sporting event in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n In a video posted to social media on Tuesday night, Mamdani expressed concerns that tickets to World Cup matches \u2014 in particular ones taking place at MetLife Stadium \u2014 would be resold at an exorbitant rate on an official FIFA-run secondary market ticket platform.\u00a0<\/p>\n And the mayoral frontrunner accused FIFA of using the World Cup as \u201copportunities for profit, as opposed to opportunities to extend this to the people who make this game so special\u201d during a press conference at St. James Park<\/a> in The Bronx on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 33-year-old state assemblyman representing Queens said the petition has already drawn thousands of signatures after it went live on his campaign website Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n The FIFA World Cup is taking place next summer in North America. REUTERS<\/p>\n Wednesday marked the start of the ticket pre-sale signup window for the 2026 World Cup, which will have eight matches, including the final, take place at MetLife Stadium next summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n FIFA confirmed earlier this month\u00a0that it would be using dynamic pricing<\/a>\u00a0for the 2026 World Cup, with the cheapest ticket prices for the group stage starting at $60 and reaching up to $6,730 for the priciest ticket for the final, which MetLife Stadium is hosting.\u00a0<\/p>\n