FIFA faces fan backlash over seating at women's World Cup

Supporters with tickets for the June 7-July 7 showpiece were allowed to download and print them on Monday and a number of parents have since complained that seats have been allocated in such a way that they cannot sit with their children.

FIFA faces fan backlash over seating at women's World Cup

(Reuters)





The tournament organisers initially released a statement saying they could not change seat allocations except for parents with children under the age of 18 who were not seated together.

In a subsequent statement organisers said less than 1% of fans with tickets for the semi-finals and final were facing seat-allocation issues.

"The previous tweets regarding FIFA Women's World Cup tickets allocation were published without a full understanding of the situation and we apologise for that," organisers said in a statement https://twitter.com/FIFAWWC/status/1130624973247328256 on Twitter.

"The issues were faced by less than 1% of fans requesting tickets for the semi-finals and the final. FIFA and the local organising committee are confident the problems will be solved and fans will be able to enjoy the matches as they envisaged."

The assurances did not calm supporters on social media, who suggested the problem was far more widespread and demanded organisers resolve the issue.

Twitter user Gareth James complained he would have to sit separately from his two daughters and would not attend the game if their seats were not reallocated.

"How will (the problems) be solved? Me and my daughters aged 11 and 13 have tickets that are not together, so will not be able to attend," he tweeted https://twitter.com/gisjames25/status/1130658364243886080.

A fan named Mike Swanson said he had been crushed to discover that his family of five, which includes three children, would be spread over three different rows.

"This was to be a family trip and we can't even sit together as a family," he said in a tweet. "What a disappointment. Not a happy customer."

FIFA released a statement later on Tuesday saying they were still working on a solution.

"FIFA and the local organising committee are... doing everything they can to ensure that families will always be seated together at each and every match," the statement said.

"Of the 1.3 million tickets on sale for the tournament it is estimated that not having side-by-side seats will affect only a very small number of fans."

The women's World Cup semi-finals and final will be held in Lyon.





(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Nick Mulvenney)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
FIFA faces fan backlash over seating at women's World Cup | SBS News