Coral Gables, Florida — United States of America Coach Mauricio Pochettino said it is neither his job nor that of his players to judge or evaluate the price of tickets for this summer’s World Cup.
The comments came during a videoconference call with reporters on Thursday when Pochettino was asked about the American winger timothy weahHis comments in the French press in which he suggested that World Cup tickets were too expensive and that many fans would not afford to go there.
FIFA is charging a list price of $8,680 per ticket for the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19 in the US. Mexico And Canadaand up to $175 for parking spots. Although there are more affordable markets, the average ticket prices have been criticized by many, including advocacy groups around the world.
“First of all, I think players need to talk on the field while playing football, not off the field,” Pochettino said. “It’s not [Weah’s] Duty to evaluate ticket price. And then my job, my duty is to prepare the team, the U.S. Men’s National Team, to perform at its best.
“We are not politicians. We are sports people and only we can talk about our work, and I think if FIFA does something or takes a decision, they know why, and [it] It is their responsibility to explain why. But it is not about us to give our opinion. Our responsibility is to perform, play and perform on the pitch and then the people who are in charge of the federation, maybe they can give their opinion, but I am the head coach of the federation.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended ticket prices – for which the governing body says it has received more than 500 million requests – but admitted they could Go even higher in the secondary market Once tickets are released, tickets will start from February 5th.
“I think that of course you need the media to ask FIFA directly, and of course, you will get a very good answer, but no, it is not up to us to suppress this type of thing,” Pochettino said. “We need to focus on the sporting side and trust the organization that is in charge of football or soccer around the world that they are going to do the right thing.”
is friendly against America belgium (28 March), portugal (31 March), senegal (31 May) and Germany (6 June) before the opening of the World Cup against paraguaya June 12 in Inglewood, California.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
