FIFA on Friday blamed the empty seats during the World Cup match between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara on fans who watched from the concourses.
There were many visible empty spots at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, with sections in the middle of the stands showing many unoccupied spaces and with other empty seats scattered around the venue. The announced attendance was 44,985 — including FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match,” FIFA said, adding that it works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data.
“Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match,” the governing body of world soccer said.
There was indeed a significant number of fans standing on the concourses and by the concession stands throughout Thursday's match.
There were some empty seats in Toronto also
On Friday, the stadium in Toronto was close to full for Canada’s first World Cup match on home soil, but there were some empty spots, notably close to the field in the lower bowl, and in a high corner of temporary seating.
Toronto Stadium, with an official capacity of 43,036, is the smallest venue in the tournament and had to have the extra seats added to meet FIFA’s minimum standards. The announced attendance on Friday was 43,002.
It’s a busy sports weekend in Toronto, with the Blue Jays hosting the New York Yankees and the Canadian Open golf tournament about an hour away.
FIFA charged record high ticket prices for this year's World Cup
FIFA has been charging record ticket prices at the 11 stadiums in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada. The soccer body was using dynamic pricing and has repeatedly raised the prices since tickets first went on sale last fall.
Infantino defended those prices Wednesday as fitting in the North American market, but they have been criticized for list prices that have reached five figures.
Before the tournament started on Thursday, 29 games were sold out (with wheelchair seats available for some of those) and 75 had tickets remaining.
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Associated Press writer Lexie Linderman in Toronto contributed to this report.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
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