The Albany Gazette - Final ticket sales phase begins for FIFA World Cup

The phase for the June 11–July 19 event in the United States, Mexico and Canada involves more than three million tickets.

This "last-minute" sales phase opened at 1500 GMT on the official website, FIFA.com/tickets, the global governing body stated in a press release.

Tickets are being sold on a "first-come, first-served" basis and will remain available until the end of the competition on July 19, it added.

Tickets will be released for sale on a rolling basis -- including, on occasion, for matches taking place on the very same day -- according to FIFA.

At the scheduled time, prospective buyers were directed to a "waiting" page to "queue" while awaiting access to the site, a wait that could last several hours.

"A countdown will appear before you can enter the ticket sales phase. Once the countdown is over, an 'Enter' button will be available for 5 minutes. Click it to access," instructions specify.

In total, nearly seven million tickets are being offered for the competition, taking into account the capacities of the 16 stadiums hosting the global tournament.

More than three million of these tickets have already been sold during the first three sales phases -- including over one million during the random selection draw phase alone (held in January and February), which received 500 million requests, according to FIFA.

The global governing body is likely to break the all-time record of 3.5 million tickets sold for a World Cup -- a mark set during the 1994 edition.

This summer, the tournament will feature 48 teams and 104 matches, 78 of which will take place on American soil.

The issue of ticketing has sparked controversy, with FIFA facing accusations of offering tickets at exorbitant prices, in disregard of promises made when the tournament was awarded to the three host nations.

On March 24, Football Supporters Europe (FSE) -- an organization representing European fans -- and Euroconsumers -- a group representing consumers across the continent -- announced they had filed a complaint against FIFA with the European Commission.

They alleged abuse of a dominant market position and seek to compel the organization to abandon its "opaque and unfair" ticket purchasing procedures. FIFA has defended its ticket pricing, which, according to president Gianni Infantino, is driven by "crazy" demand.

However, in December, the governing body did introduce a $60 ticket category reserved exclusively for official supporters' clubs; yet, according to the FSE, this quota was virtually sold out before sales even opened to the general public.

Additionally, FIFA is set to reopen its official ticket resale and exchange platform on Thursday. This platform has also come under fire due to the equally prohibitive prices at which tickets are listed for resale.

The global governing body explained that it does not intervene in this "fan-to-fan market," where the reseller "determines the listed price of each ticket" in Canada and the United States.

The legal framework differs in Mexico, however, where reselling a ticket for more than its original purchase price is prohibited.

(A.Moore--TAG)