By Samindra Kunti
April 20 – The final phase of ticket sales for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup began on Wednesday and will run until July 2. Ticketing for FIFA’s warm up event for the 2018 World Cup in Russia has so far been slow.
“Fans interested in tickets are advised to secure their purchase as soon as the sales phase starts as certain ticket categories for specific matches may become unavailable at any moment,” FIFA said in a statement designed to drum up support and sales for the event.
Even so, enthusiasm among fans for the Confederations Cup remains low. As the previous ticket sales phase came to an end less than a third of all available tickets had been sold, with just 211,745 tickets out of 695,000 tickets finding their way to fans. Brazil had sold twice that number of tickets – 546,000 – for the 2013 Confederations Cup at the same stage.
Tickets remain available for all matches, including the host’s three group stage encounters and the final. At present Russia vs Portugal in Moscow on June 21 is the only match with a low availability.
In this sale phase tickets will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and tickets purchased online as of April 19 are to be picked up from the FIFA Venue Ticketing Centers, which will be operated by FIFA in all host cities. Ticket prices range from $70 in the group stages to $245 for the final. Russian citizens can enjoy a special category, with the cheapest ticket starting at 960 Rubel ($16).
The ‘Tournament of Champions’ will be held from June 17 to July 2 in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and Sochi, with the city situated on the Neva River hosting both the opening game between Russia and New Zealand and the final. The tournament serves as a precursor and warmup for the World Cup.
In Group A Russia have been paired with New Zealand, Mexico and Portugal. Germany, Chile, Cameroon and Australia complete Group B.
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