FIFA has confirmed an error on its website allowed 60 fans to purchase World Cup tickets for free.
Football’s world governing body has cancelled the tickets with incorrect prices and given the affected fans the opportunity to repurchase the tickets at full price.
“FIFA can confirm that approximately 60 fans received a communication on Wednesday, 3 June, regarding tickets that had been allocated at no charge due to a prior payment issue during the checkout process,” it said, adding that it “regrets any inconvenience caused”.
Ticket Talk Network, a social media account that highlights ticketing errors, shared a letter confirming that fans have seven days to pay for the affected tickets before they are removed from their accounts.
The affected tickets were for group stage matches in Toronto. The World Cup, hosted in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, begins on Thursday, 11 June.
The mistake is just the most recent ticket issue for FIFA, which stated the event would be sold out but still has seats remaining less than a week before the tournament begins.
The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey launched an investigation into Fifa’s ticket policies last week, following complaints of “artificially inflating prices” and “misleading fans”.
FIFA uses a mechanism known as ‘variable pricing’ for ticket sales. This means that ticket pricing can be changed during the sales cycle based on demand and availability.
FIFA’s final open sales window started in April. At the time, it was stated that more tickets could be released until before kick-off.
