Sheinbaum told journalists that soccer should be much more than a business.
“Soccer has to be something else,” she said. “All of this should prompt reflection, even within FIFA.”
There was no immediate public reaction from FIFA. Its president, Gianni Infantino, last week defended high ticket prices as fitting in the North American market.
Earlier this year, tickets for matches in the three host countries including Mexico went on sale at prices ranging from $140 to $8,680. While some prices have fallen, others have soared. Tickets for the final are priced at $32,970. Resale prices are higher. In April, FIFA’s own resale platform listed four tickets for the final at around $2.3 million each.
Although Mexico’s president acknowledged that it is “fine” for the World Cup to be run as a business, she said soccer also should be “a space for bringing people together, like all sports.”
Sheinbaum also broke with a longstanding World Cup tradition under which the host country’s president attends the opening match. Instead, she gave her ticket to a 21-year-old Indigenous female soccer player who had no financial means of purchasing one.
The federal government also decided that public officials would give up about 500 tickets to people who participated in “Social World Cup” activities, and that 88 tickets would be distributed through schools.
