00:00FIFA is facing calls to answer questions now after allegations of artificially inflating prices and misleading fans over the sale
00:07of tickets for the upcoming World Cup.
00:09The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey have officially launched an investigation into FIFA's practices.
00:15This is all coming a little over two weeks before the tournament kicks off.
00:19New Jersey's top prosecutor called FIFA's ticketing a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices.
00:27FIFA has declined to answer our request for comment.
00:31Our North American correspondent, Netta Taufik, has more from New York.
00:34For a while now, fans have been complaining about the sky-high ticket prices and alleging that they've been scammed.
00:42And so this is at its heart really a consumer protection case.
00:46It caught the attention of officials in New York and New Jersey who decided to probe those reports.
00:51They have subpoenaed FIFA and they are going to be specifically asking for internal documents and communications in relation to
01:01ticketing practices at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
01:05That's where eight World Cup matches are going to be held, including England's last match of the stage group, of
01:13the group stage, as well as the final on July 19th.
01:16And there are a few things. First, that ticketing process that FIFA used, the lottery, the stages that many described
01:23as confusing.
01:24Well, officials want to see if that allowed FIFA to essentially raise prices by an average of 34 percent.
01:32They also say that fans have reported getting tickets that weren't in the categories that they originally purchased.
01:40And instead, getting tickets far further from the field or even behind the goals.
01:45And in some cases, they say that FIFA actually altered the seating maps in the stadiums, those categories.
01:53So all of that is going to be looked into to see if consumers were exploited and manipulated.
02:00Well, let's talk to a fan. Chris Donoghue is here. He is with the American Outlaws.
02:05That's a fan group for U.S. soccer teams. It's great to have you on.
02:09I understand you have been able to get some tickets to some matches.
02:13What was that experience like for you? And then how much did you actually end up having to pay?
02:20Yeah, I'm actually going on two different trips, one to Los Angeles and one to Seattle for the first two
02:26U.S. games.
02:28And, yeah, I think a lot of people within the American Outlaws knew that these prices would be extreme.
02:35But I don't think anyone really understood what it would cost to take a 40-hour trip to go see
02:42your national team play.
02:44You know, Category 2, 3 tickets are upwards of $2,000, and that's without flight, hotel.
02:51So, yeah, it's going to be an expensive couple days to go see your national team play.
02:56Do you think that FIFA is misleading fans, as these attorneys general say, when it comes to tickets and seating
03:04for the World Cup?
03:07A hundred percent. I think that the message has been this is going to be an inclusive event.
03:13This is going to be the kind of thing where you can bring your family and bring everyone you know
03:17to see the world's biggest game.
03:20And, yeah, now it's just unaffordable for a lot of people.
03:24I think the message has pretty much been pretty unanimous amongst the supporters that the rug has been pulled a
03:34little bit.
03:34And it's just it's not cost prohibitive to try to take a trip and see the World Cup for a
03:41lot of folks.
03:42And for FIFA to kind of give us the message that this was the event, you know, this is the
03:50world's game.
03:50It's the peace game. I think that the message is lost.
03:55When you're out there and you're buying tickets for the World Cup, people are reporting drastically different prices,
04:00depending on the game, depending on the day, depending on even the time that you may be looking to buy
04:04tickets.
04:06What do you think of the way that FIFA has been using what they call dynamic pricing,
04:09where the price can change versus maybe previous cups?
04:12This is the first time they're doing this system where there's a certain price for a certain section for a
04:16certain game and it doesn't change.
04:19Yeah, you know, I don't see how I don't see the reality part of it, but I also just don't
04:27see the moral part of it.
04:28I don't know why the the goal of FIFA seems to be making money versus getting, you know, butts in
04:36seats.
04:37I think that American fans, this is as good as it gets for for senior national team play in a
04:44World Cup at home.
04:45I think this is what fans have dreamt of their whole lives.
04:48And now that it's here, it just feels a little bit like it's an elitist type event.
04:55And, you know, say what you want about the process.
04:57I understand that you have to weed people out and not everyone's going to get to go to every game
05:02that they want to go to.
05:03But it seems to me like the average person that is a hardworking American just can't afford to attend games
05:11in their hometowns.
05:12And I just don't see I don't see why why this was the goal.
05:17And it wasn't communicated from the beginning.
05:19What do you make of the argument that we have been hearing from FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, that,
05:25you know, essentially what FIFA is doing here is charging what fans, particularly in the United States, are willing to
05:33pay?
05:35I think it's a cash grab.
05:36I think if you look at there's still a lot of tickets available on the secondary market, because I think
05:42a lot of people got into the lottery, got tickets, didn't realize that they would be getting charged $2,000
05:49per ticket, realize that they can't afford to make a trip out to L.A. to watch the opener.
05:54And now they're trying to sell their tickets and just get their money back.
05:57So I think that, yes, there are people that are willing to pay exorbitant prices for these tickets.
06:03But we also need to look at the bigger picture, and that is we need to get young people into
06:07these games.
06:09Young supporters, young American outlaws need to be in these games because there's just not another opportunity like this in
06:14our lifetime.
06:15Chris Donahue, an American football fan with the American Outlaws, a group dedicated to U.S. soccer.
06:23Thanks for being on and thanks for sharing your experience with us.
06:26Thank you very much.
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