Former FIFA Official Miguel Maduro criticised FIFA's 2026 World Cup ticket pricing, saying the organisation is prioritising profits over fans. With premium final tickets costing nearly $16,000, almost 6 times the 2022 final price, Maduro warned football is becoming an "elite sport." He blamed FIFA's dual role as regulator & commercial operator for limiting fan access to matches.

Washington DC [US]: Former FIFA official, Miguel Poiares Maduro, has criticised the ticket pricing strategy for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, claiming the tournament has been overshadowed by profit-driven priorities, according to ABC News.

Tickets for this year's World Cup are the most expensive in the tournament's history, with premium seats for the final selling for nearly $16,000, which is almost six times the price of equivalent tickets for the 2022 final in Qatar.

"You have a sport that is becoming increasingly an elite sport," Maduro, the former chair of FIFA's governance committee, said as quoted by the ABC News.

Maduro argued that without a truly "independent mechanisms of checks and balances", FIFA will keep prioritising revenue generation over the interests of fans and the broader football community.