More World Cup seats to go on sale after FIFA adds costlier ticket categories

In this file photo, FIFA president Gianni Infantino holds the World Cup trophy during the playoff draw.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (AP): FIFA is putting more World Cup tickets on sale after angering some fans by adding new, more expensive categories.

Soccer's governing body announced it will make more tickets available at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday for all 104 games in Categories 1, 2, and 3, plus the new "front category” pricing it added this month.

The new category sparked online complaints from fans who said they thought the better seats in the categories they had bought tickets for were withheld, and they were assigned less favorable locations.

FIFA in December put tickets on sale at prices ranging from $140 for Category 3 in the first round to $8,680 for the final, then raised prices to as much as $10,990 when sales reopened on April 1.

FIFA did not respond to an April 9 request for comment about the new ticket categories it added.

Also, on Tuesday, The Athletic reported that ticket sales are lagging for the U.S. opener against Paraguay on June 12 at Inglewood, California. It said a document distributed to local organizers dated April 10 said 40,934 tickets had been purchased for the U.S.-Paraguay game and 50,661 for the Iran-New Zealand contest on April 15. FIFA projects SoFi's World Cup capacity at about 69,650, noting it may change.

FIFA's December sale priced U.S.-Paraguay tickets at $1,120, $1,940, and $2,735, and Iran-New Zealand seats at $140, $380 and $450.