Fifa criticized for ‘deeply concerning’ approach to ticketing for fans with disabilities

Football fans with disabilities are struggling to buy companion tickets for World Cup games with some seats that had been assigned for caregivers appearing to be put on general sale.

The Guardian has uncovered significant issues with the World Cup ticket sales process for fans with disabilities, including:

• Wheelchair users who have secured a match ticket being unable to buy an accompanying ticket for a caregiver

• Companion seats being made available to buy in isolation, without proof of a prior wheelchair or accessible purchase, in stage four of Fifa’s sale process earlier this month

• Wheelchair and accessible seating being priced higher than general admission tickets on Fifa’s official resale marketplace across a wide range of matches

• An inability by Fifa to guarantee that fans who have bought companion tickets will be seated next to the wheelchair user they are accompanying

Fifa’s accessible ticketing policy has been widely criticized since tickets first went on sale last year, with the world governing body charging for companion seats for the first time.

Combined with a general increase in ticket prices since the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where prices for accessible tickets to group-stage matches started at $10, compared with $140-$450 this summer, Football Supporters Europe claims that the result will be fans with disabilities paying 38 times more for tickets than they did four years ago.

The price of accessible parking at stadiums, which ranges from $125 for group games in Philadelphia to $300 in Los Angeles, is another major concern.

Securing companion tickets has also been a significant issue, even for fans who have successfully obtained a wheelchair seat. The Guardian has spoken to numerous fans in Europe and the United States who have been unable to buy companion tickets or spent months attempting to do so.

One fan who paid $525 for a category two wheelchair amenity seat for a group-stage game last November told the Guardian they had spent months chasing Fifa to buy a companion seat without success.

Another supporter who has been unable to buy an additional ticket for their caregiver contacted the Guardian to express frustration that companion seats were showing up as available on general sale in Fifa’s fourth ticket release on 1 April, with no prior purchase necessary.

Other fans remarked that after spending months chasing Fifa for a companion ticket the price had risen significantly from the time of their initial purchase last autumn.

Another widespread complaint is that attempts to contact Fifa result in an automated response including a copy of its terms and conditions, with no other assistance.

Problems securing companion seats appear to be limited to stadiums in the United States and Canada. For games in Mexico there are no explicit companion seats, with wheelchair ticketholders invited to buy an additional ticket when checking out their purchase.

A Fifa source said that selling disabled and companion tickets in the American market was challenging, as US legislation prevents vendors from demanding proof of disability.

They added that their ability to influence their ticket resale platform was severely limited by the nature of the American market, which does not permit price capping even for accessible tickets.

The problem appears particularly pronounced in the US, where four companion seats for each wheelchair user have been allocated in some stadiums. As a result the issue may be one of oversupply, with an abundance of companion tickets appearing on the market for some matches.

Fifa sources explained that companion tickets became available in stage four of the sales process this month, as it was the first point at which fans could select a specific seat for matches.

The limited availability of wheelchair and easy access tickets, however, appears to have led to significant price rises for fans with disabilities on the official World Cup ticket resale site, from which Fifa takes 15% commission from both the seller and the buyer.

For England’s opening group game against Croatia in Dallas, for example, standard category three tickets were available earlier this week for $1,150, whereas easy access tickets started at $3,100, with similar differentials across other price points.

Fifa has acknowledged that there are potential issues in allocating companion tickets at the World Cup. Its terms and conditions state that “companions will be seated as close to you as possible. However, the exact seat location cannot be guaranteed, and Fifa Ticketing cannot ensure that it will be immediately adjacent to your seat.”

The UK-based campaign group Level Playing Field contacted Fifa in December, expressing concerns and making representations on behalf of a number of fans. Staff from the charity have since met with Fifa officials to raise these matters, but they have yet to receive an update of any meaningful action taken to address their concerns.

Tony Taylor, the chair of Level Playing Field, told the Guardian: “It is deeply concerning that this World Cup sees the reversal of the position to provide complimentary PA [personal assistant] /companion tickets to disabled fans.

“For many disabled supporters, attending with a PA is an essential access requirement, which they are now being asked to pay double their entry fee for.

“Despite concerns over inaccessibility being raised with Fifa more than four months ago, the necessary action has still not been taken and effective communication with disabled supporters has been severely lacking. This failure to act on inclusion, alongside key backwards steps, puts equality at risk for a tournament which claims to be the most inclusive to date.”

Football Supporters Europe has also written to Fifa, saying that its ticketing system “enables speculation and exploitation”, and referred to the treatment of fans with disabilities in an official complaint sent to the European Commission in March.