Pou and Pallone Demand Answers from FIFA Over World Cup Ticket Chaos

With games 36 days away, New Jersey lawmakers cite soaring prices, misleading seat maps, and deceptive sales tactics 

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Nellie Pou (D-NJ-09), the Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Task Force overseeing World Cup security, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-06), the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today sought urgent answers from FIFA on a ticket sales process that has become increasingly confusing, expensive, and unfair for fans with the games slated to start in America in just 36 days.

“The hosting of the World Cup is an enormous honor for our country, bringing fans from across the nation and around the world to American soil. However, for many fans hoping to attend matches this summer, the ticket sales process has become a major point of frustration. We are deeply concerned by reports that FIFA is employing opaque pricing, shifting rules, and potentially deceptive practices that are making it difficult for fans to access seats. We write seeking more information about these ticketing practices, including how FIFA is ensuring that the World Cup is affordable for all fans and responding to fans who feel misled,” Pou and Pallone write to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

FIFA’s ticket sales process for the World Cup has drawn criticism from fans over rising prices, confusing sales practices, and a lack of transparency. FIFA introduced so-called “dynamic pricing” for the tournament for the first time, allowing ticket prices to change based on demand.

Reports indicate that prices have increased for most matches since sales first opened, with some tickets more than doubling in cost. Tickets for the World Cup Final, for example, reportedly climbed from roughly $6,700 to nearly $11,000. Fans have also described waiting in long online queues only to find that lower-priced tickets had disappeared by checkout.

Questions have also been raised about whether ticket inventory is being strategically withheld from sale. Despite public claims from FIFA that matches were effectively sold out, tickets continue to remain available across the tournament, with another drop of tickets scheduled for today. Reports have indicated that FIFA may be holding back tickets and staggering releases in ways that create the appearance of scarcity and pressure consumers into purchasing quickly before they fear prices will rise further.

Fans have complained about confusing seating practices and steep resale fees. Some purchasers who paid premium prices later received seats in less desirable sections, including corners and behind goals. FIFA also reportedly introduced a new and more expensive tier for seats many fans believed had originally been included in the standard top category. FIFA’s resale platform separately charges fees to both buyers and sellers, resulting in combined fees totaling roughly 30 percent on resale transactions.

The text of the members’ letter is below.

Dear President Infantino: 

The hosting of the World Cup is an enormous honor for our country, bringing fans from across the nation and around the world to American soil. However, for many fans hoping to attend matches this summer, the ticket sales process has become a major point of frustration. We are deeply concerned by reports that FIFA is employing opaque pricing, shifting rules, and potentially deceptive practices that are making it difficult for fans to access seats. We write seeking more information about these ticketing practices, including how FIFA is ensuring that the World Cup is affordable for all fans and responding to fans who feel misled.

“Dynamic pricing” ripoffs. FIFA has adopted so-called “dynamic pricing” at the World Cup for the first time. Many Americans have become familiar with this system as it is the same one used to negative effect by Live Nation/Ticketmaster. As a result of dynamic pricing, prices have risen for roughly 90 of 104 matches—nearly 87 percent of games—with an average increase of more than 34 percent in six months, and some tickets more than doubling in price.  Ticket prices for the July 19, 2026 final match, for example, have skyrocketed from about $6,700 to nearly $11,000 —well over the cost of a full semester of tuition at Rutgers University.  Pricing has been unstable and opaque, allowing FIFA to continually adjust prices for the same inventory based on demand. Lower-priced tickets disappear quickly, leaving customers frustrated after often waiting in extremely long queues. 

Meanwhile, some inventory for certain high-priced games, such as the United States’ home opener in Los Angeles, remains consistently available.  FIFA is continuing to sell these tickets at high prices, despite resale prices being lower.  This suggests that prices are being held artificially high, even when the market signals otherwise—providing no dynamic pricing benefit to fans for dips in demand. 

Artificial scarcity through holdbacks. FIFA also appears to be restricting ticket supply to shape demand. Tickets are reportedly being held back for matches, creating the appearance of limited availability even when large numbers remain unsold.  This pressures fans to purchase quickly while allowing FIFA to control pricing through staggered releases. 

Fans do not have access to clear information about how many tickets are actually left for games—and FIFA is adding to this confusion.  On February 19, 2026, you publicly claimed that all 104 matches for the World Cup were sold out, with FIFA later needing to correct your statement to say that you expected all games to sell out.   You also stated that FIFA had received 508 million ticket requests for the 7 million tickets available for sale.  Despite these claims, availability remains for games across the tournament. Indeed, just yesterday FIFA announced another “limited release of tickets” on a first come, first serve basis.   This disconnect raises alarms that inventory is being held back to drive consumer urgency rather than to genuine ticket availability.

Misleading seat maps. FIFA’s seating maps have misled consumers about what seat location they were purchasing. Tickets are sold in categories, rather than specific seats, with Category 1 initially presented as offering the best locations based on seat maps. The prices for these tickets reflected their premium location. However, when seats were later assigned, many Category 1 purchasers were placed in less desirable areas, including locations previously designated as lower category tiers.   These are corner seats, seats behind the goals, and elsewhere with poor views. In articles, impacted fans have said they felt “misled,” “scammed,” and “bamboozled.”  In a shoddy defense that would have no place on a World Cup pitch, FIFA argued that its maps were only illustrative and not binding and that seat locations can naturally change at any time.  

Compounding this deception, after assigning many Category 1 buyers to less desirable seats, FIFA reportedly began offering a new “Front Category 1” tier in areas previously advertised as Category 1. FIFA offered these tickets at significantly higher prices than Category 1, often double the original cost.  For example, tickets to the U.S. opener in Los Angeles rose from roughly $2,730 to over $4,000 for these upgraded seats.   These were seats that buyers reasonably believed were included in the original top Category 1 tier when they made their purchasing decisions. In effect, FIFA marketed one level of access, then redefined that access after the fact to extract additional revenue, misleading consumers.

Exorbitant resale fees. In addition to selling tickets directly to fans, FIFA also operates a resale marketplace for ticket purchasers to resell their tickets, including above face value. FIFA charges a fee to both the buyer and seller for resale tickets: 15% to sellers and 15% to buyers.  These high fees increase costs for consumers and are yet another revenue grab for FIFA. 

In 36 days, the World Cup will kick off in the United States. One day later, the first game will be played in our home state of New Jersey. Time is running short. These patterns of questionable ticket pricing raise serious questions about fairness, transparency, and potentially deceptive practices in ticket sales.  We request information and answers to the following questions by no later than May 22, 2026:  

1. Please provide a detailed explanation of how FIFA’s dynamic pricing determines prices, including the upper and lower price bounds, and whether FIFA uses dynamic pricing to lower prices for games with outstanding inventory. 
2. Are all unsold tickets for the 2026 World Cup currently available for sale on FIFA’s website for the “Last-Minute sales phase”? If not, when does FIFA plan to release additional tickets and in which categories?  
3. Does FIFA have plans or is FIFA considering plans to introduce additional seat categories for the 2026 World Cup? 
4. What recourse is FIFA providing to fans who made purchasing decisions based upon a seat map that was later changed after their purchase? 
5. Please explain the justification for FIFA’s 30% total fee on resale tickets. 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

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