Qatar World Cup ticket sales to open

Fans can start registering to buy Qatar World Cup tickets on Wednesday with prices for visitors starting at around €60, one-third cheaper than the tournament in Russia, The Associated Press has learned.

The category-three tickets on international sale will be 250 Qatari riyals (€60), two people with knowledge of the prices said Tuesday, compared to $105 (€90) for the equivalent in 2018. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the ticketing process.

The cheapest tickets — in category four only for Qatari residents — will cost 40 Qatari riyals (€9.7), the people said. The intended ticket prices will be the cheapest at a World Cup since $3 seats in Mexico — based on 1986 exchange rates — and half the price of those made available to locals at the equivalent of $22 in Russia in 2018.

The low entry point for tickets in Qatar could help to provide access to the low-paid migrant worker population for the Nov. 21-Dec. 18 tournament. The cheapest tickets at the 2019 world track and field championships were 60 Qatari riyals (€14.5) and entry was eventually made free for workers to fill empty seats.

FIFA tickets will be distributed through a regulated process rather than an open sale with the full range of prices still to be announced. Supporters requesting to attend matches at the Middle East's first World Cup will only discover if they are successful based on a random draw at the conclusion of the first application phase which runs through Feb. 8.

The ticket process is beginning with only 13 of the 32 slots at the tournament filled and qualifying not concluding until the intercontinental playoffs in June.

FIFA aims to generate $500 million (€441 million) from hospitality rights