{"id":702660,"date":"2026-06-14T00:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/702660\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T00:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T00:54:12","slug":"mamdani-scores-free-exclusive-world-cup-tickets-to-multiple-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/702660\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani scores free, exclusive World Cup tickets to multiple matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed Saturday, while insisting he\u2019s not snubbing city ethics rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the unique nature of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/13\/us-news\/gridlock-slams-nyc-as-world-cup-travelers-rocked-by-chaotic-transit-planning\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the World Cup <\/a>and the once-in-a-generation opportunity for New York City to serve as a host city, the mayor will attend select matches at [MetLife Stadium] in his official capacity to perform official functions as the chief executive of the host city,\u201d said Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec, without being specific.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.63057325;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39669823\" width=\"962\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/espn-x-130855961.jpg\" alt=\"New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul watching a World Cup game.\" class=\"wp-image-39669823\"  \/>Mamdani was seated next to Hochul for the Morocco game.  ESPN\/X<\/p>\n<p>The soccer-loving, silver-spoon socialist has a \u201ccontractual obligation with the New York\/New Jersey 2026 World Cup Host Committee\u201d to attend the matches, including Saturday\u2019s pitting Brazil versus Morocco, where he was accompanied by his wife,\u00a0Rama Duwaji, claimed Pekec.<\/p>\n<p>The First Lady paid for her own ticket to the contest \u2014 where the cheapest tickets on secondary market sites were running more than $1,600 as of game day, said Pekec, insisting \u201cthere is no gift here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pekec\u00a0failed to elaborate on how many matches Mamdani plans to attend. There are eight FIFA World Cup 2026 games scheduled for MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Kathy Hochul was spotted sitting next to the mayor during Saturday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39669441\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ny-state-governor-kathy-hochul-130241114_442d2e.jpg\" alt=\"NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed Saturday, while insisting he\u2019s not snubbing city ethics rules.\" class=\"wp-image-39669441\"  \/>NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed Saturday, while insisting he\u2019s not snubbing city ethics rules. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be unprecedented for host city leadership, particularly a mayor with such international recognition, to not participate in World Cup matches,\u201d Pekec crowed about her boss.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani also flexed his political muscle earlier this week to nab exclusive seats to Game 3 of<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/11\/us-news\/mamdani-dolan-would-have-to-bury-hatchet-for-potential-massive-knicks-ticker-tape-parade-if-they-win-nba-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">\u00a0NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 potentially running afoul of city ethics rules, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/11\/us-news\/mamdani-cashed-in-on-mayoral-perks-for-knicks-tickets-and-downplayed-the-price-sources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Post reported.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>He downplayed how much he paid for the hot ticket, claiming \u201croughly $1,000\u201d despite sources telling The Post is was actually $750.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[18783,15050,52018,5871,361,111,403,99,13092,194,153412,10766],"class_list":["post-702660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ethics","tag-madison-square-garden","tag-metlife-stadium","tag-metro","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-politics","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-tickets","tag-us-news","tag-world-cup-2026","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}