Young children have been allocated seating away from their parents, and people with disability given inaccessible seats away from their companions as further problems from the FIFA Women’s World Cup ticketing system emerge.
The recent ticketing problems follow the outcry of fans, first reported by The Age and Herald, who felt duped by what they deem to be confusing information that has left them stuck in the nosebleeds.
Adding to fans’ frustration is a lack of recourse. FIFA’s ticketing team are contactable via a general contact enquiry form; however, fans have had varying success in receiving responses.
A fanatical Melbourne City supporter, Kathleen – who did not want her last name included due to the nature of her occupation – and her family jumped at the chance to purchase tickets for the World Cup.
She and her teenage son, who is autistic, both have mobility issues and require support from her husband and daughter, so Kathleen purchased four “easy access” tickets for a match at AAMI Park.
“Missing the World Cup here in our own home because we can’t get tickets for people like us, it’s devastating.”
Kathleen, an easy access ticketholder
FIFA offers five types of accessibility tickets to fans who have disabilities or mobility issues, categorised by differing needs of patrons. Easy access tickets (the ticket type Kathleen purchased) are offered to fans who require seating with minimal step access, and are close to accessible amenities, including toilets.
Those who purchased tickets were sent confirmation emails, with their seats for each match to be confirmed at a later date. When Kathleen checked the seat allocations last week, she discovered that all four seats were separated from one another, and all in an inaccessible part of the stadium.
“It’s highly inappropriate for my son to be sitting alone,” she said.
All four seats are only accessible via multiple flights of stairs. In addition, the toilets are not close by and can only be reached by a staircase.
Kathleen and her family will not be able to attend the match if they are seated in the areas allocated to them.
“I felt completely excluded,” she said. “Missing the World Cup here, in our own home, because we can’t get tickets for people like us – it’s devastating.”
Kathleen reached out to FIFA regarding the issue via an online enquiry form. She later received an email from the organisation that said they tried to call her to investigate the matter. She was unable to answer the call as she was working.
“I am befuddled by the audible silence from FIFA after my two previous contacts with them”
Ticket holder Anne Blythe
Kathleen has since made multiple efforts to contact organisers over a number of days, but has been regulated to automated messages.
“What I’m seeing … is a complete lack of organisation for people that aren’t physically or neurotypical,” she said.
Another fan, Rebecca Turner, who has cerebral palsy, encountered a similar issue.
Turner was initially concerned that she would not be able to be seated next to her parents, who she requires for assistance, if she bought a wheelchair user ticket.
A complimentary ticket is provided for companions to assist patrons for some of the accessible ticketing types, including wheelchair user tickets. FIFA does not guarantee it will be able to seat the companion together, but said they would be seated as close as possible.
Because of this, Turner did not purchase the wheelchair user ticket type, instead opting to buy three easy access tickets, assuming they would be seated together if purchased in the same transaction.
She was frustrated to learn that all three tickets for the two matches at Brisbane Stadium are allocated in the same area, but are all separated from one another.
Turner will not be able to attend the matches if she is not seated next to her parents due to her mobility requirements.
“My family and I were super, super frustrated,” Turner said. “It’s put a real dampener to our excitement because we’re now tossing up whether we can attend, or whether we buy other tickets.”
She added that she has never had an issue with securing accessible tickets for a sporting event.
When contacted by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, FIFA did not respond to questions about why accessibility ticket holders are unable to be seated next to their companion.
Turner sent an enquiry to FIFA on Monday, but received an automated generalised response that said she may not receive a reply due to an influx of enquiries.
There are other accessibility ticket holders who spoke with this masthead, but did not want to be named. They have also struggled to get in contact with FIFA after encountering similar issues.
Adding to the ticketing woes, a handful of fans have been separated from their kids – the same issue that occurred during the 2019 World Cup in France, which made global headlines and resulted in FIFA releasing a statement.
Melburnian Georgia Denisenko is one of those fans. She was already frustrated when she learnt that she had been allocated seats in the nosebleeds, but then saw that she has been separated from her kids for some matches.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said. “[This is] not the experience I paid for.”
She has contacted FIFA but received an auto-generated reply.
A senior world soccer source, who is not authorised to speak publicly on the matter, said FIFA was aware of a “small number” of cases in which children have been split from their parents or guardians.
The source added that seats on different rows, either directly behind or in front, are considered as being seated together.
Miki Tatlic, a former state league player, has also been seated away from her young children, aged four and five. Her kids have been seated in the row behind Tatlic.
“I don’t particularly like them sitting with strangers,” she said.
“We all want to support the Matildas … It makes it very hard and disappointing to have to deal with this right now.”
In 2019, when ticket holders seats were split up in separate rows and even sections, FIFA released a statement offering to re-allocate seats for under-18 ticket holders.
FIFA did not respond to questions about why the same issue has reoccurred for this year’s World Cup.
FIFA uses the same ticketing system for the men’s World Cup as it does the women’s World Cup.
Such was the outcry from fans about ticketing issues in recent days that a UK soccer fan association, Free Lionesses, has asked its members to get in contact so they can look into the matter.
Kim Ablett, a UK fan who planned to travel from Gloucester, has cancelled her trip to Australia due to her seating allocations.
“[It’s] simply not worth going all that way and spending so much,” she said.
The holiday was supposed to celebrate the end of her 25 years’ service with the armed forces.
Another UK fan, who has been split from her friends in the seating allocation, is considering selling her tickets and watching from the dedicated fan zones.
“Two are seated together, and one is four blocks away,” she said.
Another fan, Anne Blythe, was confused when she purchased the same ticket as her colleague during the October presale – but said she was charged 25 per cent more.
She reached out to FIFA a day after she purchased tickets, and receive no response. She reached out again after seating allocations were released, and received no response.
“I am befuddled by the audible silence from FIFA after my two previous contacts with them,” she said.
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