NEWS: News of Profiteering & Prices Rumbles On

Paul Schmidt- Troschke with news of the ongoing issues related to unprecedented price gouging at the upcoming tournament. 

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to a World Cup, etc. news section with me, Paul Schmitroschke. Amid the deepening of the FIFA ticket price crisis, from parking to train to the actual match tickets themselves, US Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urges FIFA to foot the bill for transportation services to and from FIFA World Cup venues. Quote, FIFA is said to reap nearly 11 billion from this summer's World Cup, yet New York area commuters and residents are being handed the bill. I am demanding FIFA to step up and cover transportation costs for host cities and states. New York commuters and residents should not subsidize an$11 billion windfall. New York Governor Cathy Hochel also took aim at the reported price hike. New Jersey Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an anonymous source within the agency said that no firm decision had been taken on World Cup ticket pricing yet. Meanwhile, Johnny Infantino, president of FIFA, has spoken out to defend the cost of World Cup tickets. Many fans are deeply angered about the exorbitant ticket prices, in some cases even exceeding$10,000. And even more money is added when people resell the tickets online for a profit. Infantino argued that the higher prices are necessary to fund soccer all over the world, and also said that FIFA tries to keep some tickets cheaper for local fans, but the demand to see the games is so high that prices naturally go up. Even though fans are worried about their bank accounts, FIFA believes that the event will be a massive success and worth the cost for those who can attempt. A spokesperson for the Iranian government, Fatime Mohajarani, told State TV that the team is preparing for a quote unquote proud and successful participation. There was some confusion about whether Iran would travel to the US for the games, but FIFA has insisted that the schedule will not change. Janny Infantino even met with Iranian soccer leaders in Turkey to help them find a safe place to train outside of their country. Iran is scheduled to play its first matches in Los Angeles and Seattle, but the big challenge remaining is whether the US government will give visas to the Iranian officials so they can enter the country for the tournament. Now FIFA has officially invited the Iranian Football Federation to its headquarters in Zurich, and the meeting is set to happen by May 20th to discuss final preparations for the tournament. The Iranian team is supposed to stay in Tucson, Arizona during the tournament, but there have been some further complications recently. During the FIFA Congress last week, Iranian soccer officials left a meeting in Canada because they felt they were treated poorly by immigration officers. This upcoming meeting in Switzerland is meant to fix these and many other issues and make sure the team can play. Further, in a surprising move, FIFA has not yet signed any deals to broadcast the World Cup in India or China, the two countries with the largest populations in the world and millions of soccer fans. Usually TV deals are signed many months or even years in advance, but right now the tournament is starting in just a few weeks. There is a deadlock in talks. FIFA says that discussions are quote unquote ongoing and must remain confidential. In the past, China State TV started showing World Cup advertisements long before the first game. If a deal is not reached soon, millions of people might not be able to watch the matches on television, and this could be a big problem for FIFA, as it stated itself that China accounted for almost 50% of all hours of viewing on digital and social platforms globally during the 2022 World Cup. Next, Fox Sports is looking for a World Cup watcher for the 2026 tournament, and the job pays 50,000 US dollars. The company is looking for a superfan who can watch every single match of the tournament from inside a custom-built glass cube in the heart of New York City's Times Square and will spend their time watching soccer, posting on social media, and sharing their experience with other fans. It sounds like a dream job for everyone who loves football and likes to be locked up in a transparent prison in one of the busiest public squares in the world. Lastly, a Swedish article is questioning whether democratic countries should stay in FIFA. The author, Daniel Svensson, working in the Department of Sports Sciences at Marmor University, argues that FIFA has moved away from its democratic values. He points out that FIFA has given the World Cup to countries that do not follow human rights, and even gave a peace prize to Donald Trump, which was of course widely criticized. In Sweden, some soccer clubs are asking for a clear policy on how to act when human rights are ignored by tournament hosts. Some leaders even suggest that if FIFA doesn't change, democratic countries like Sweden should leave and start their own international sports group. The article claims that quote unquote silence becomes political and that sports organizations have a responsibility to stand up for what is right rather than just focusing on money and games. So that's it from us for today.

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