DOHA (Reuters) – Soccer fans attending World Cup matches in Qatar will fork out nearly 40% more for match tickets compared to those who watched the 2018 edition in Russia, with tickets for the final costing an eye-watering 684 pounds ($812) on average, a study shows.
While fans in Russia paid an average of 214 pounds for a seat, tickets to matches in Qatar cost an average 286 pounds, according to a study by Keller Sports.
The ticket prices in Qatar are the most expensive ever for World Cup games in the last 20 years, with those for the final 59% higher than four years ago, according to the study by the Munich-based sports outfitter.
“The World Cup in Qatar is already considered the most expensive World Cup ever. The construction of six new stadiums and the complete renovation of two other arenas in the country are said to have cost around $3 billion,” the study said.
“Much more money was spent on expanding the infrastructure of the capital Doha, such as transport routes and the reconstruction of the international airport.
“It is hardly surprising that the World Cup in Qatar is also the World Cup with the most expensive tickets on average.”
World soccer’s governing body FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FIFA had earlier said nearly three million tickets across the eight stadiums in Qatar had been sold ahead of the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East.
Tickets for the 2006 World Cup in Germany were considered the most affordable in the last 20 years, with an average cost of 100 pounds for matches while tickets to the final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion cost, on average, 221 pounds per seat.
($1 = 0.8425 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Doha; Editing by Ken Ferris)
