NEWARK: World Cup fans will have to pay $150, more than 10 times the normal price, for the quick round-trip train between New York and Meadowlands stadium when it hosts the tournament’s final and seven earlier matches, local officials said Friday, drawing outrage.
The 36 miles (56 km) round trip for visitors to the sports complex in New Jersey, just outside New York City, usually costs only $12.90.
“We are going to charge $150 for our roundtrip ticket on our system. So from New York to MetLife, MetLife back to New York,” said Kris Kolluri, the president and CEO of NJ Transit, using another name for the stadium.
Just 40,000 train tickets will be available for the eight matches at the stadium, which usually hosts the New York Jets and Giants NFL teams.
But driving will be even more expensive.
Limited parking options at $225 a space will be available at the stadium for fans with disabilities and in an adjacent mall for other supporters, according to the Just Park site.
New York resident Guy Dixon, 42, told AFP “I feel like that’s an embarrassment and shame, and it’s taking advantage of the fans.”
Trading blame
New Jersey’s recently sworn-in Governor Mikie Sherrill defended the state transit organisation’s policies, saying on X Friday that “Fifa put zero dollars towards transporting World Cup fans.”
The deal between Fifa and the previous New Jersey leadership also “eliminated parking” at the stadium, requiring the rail service to transport four-times as many fans as it usually does, she said.
“This agreement will cost NJ TRANSIT at least $48 million, while Fifa is positioned to make $11 billion during the World Cup.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also wrote on social media on Tuesday, as initial reports emerged in The Athletic, that Fifa should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.
But Fifa, which is already facing severe criticism over the sky-high cost of many match ticket prices, called New Jersey’s move “unprecedented.”
The soccer world governing body’s World Cup chief operating officer Heimo Schirgi said the move to “arbitrarily set elevated prices and demand Fifa absorb these costs is unprecedented.”
“No other global event, concert or major sporting promoter has faced such a demand. While Fifa is projected to generate approximately $11 billion in revenue, not profit, as the governor incorrectly claims, Fifa has always been a not-for-profit organisation,” he added.
Fifa said previously that the original host city agreements “required free transportation for fans to all matches.”
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans could use the Doha Metro for free with their matchday tickets.
A re-negotiation stipulated that transport would be offered “at cost” on match days, Fifa added previously.
‘Insane’
A French supporter group called the pricing “completely insane”.
“Every day there’s bad news about transportation — you really have to wonder how far this madness is going to go,” said Guillaume Aupretre, a spokesman for the “Irresistibles Francais” fan organisation.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also took aim at the reported price hike.
“Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me,” Hochul wrote on X.
Some $100 million in US federal funding has been allocated to host cities for transit network costs, including $8.7 million for Boston and Massachusetts, and $10.4 million for the New York-New Jersey area, according to local media reports.
England’s Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) chief Thomas Concannon told the BBC “every single thing coming out of this tournament so far is just fans getting fleeced.”
“The price is obviously astronomical in terms of what you would expect to pay going to a match,” he said Friday.
“We weren’t expecting to be gouged.”
