People with disabilities are being left out of the 2026 World Cup, according to fans and rights campaigners.
Unlike previous tournaments, this year’s event in the U.S., Canada and Mexico has no separate ticket ballots, charging fees for teammates who usually go for free and failing to provide free or low-cost accessible parking. And that’s without mentioning the price of tickets.
“I was originally going and thinking America would be amazing, and Canada and Mexico too. I’ve been there several times. I know you know about it, the transportation is perfectly organised, the hotels, everything is accessible, so you had no worries. But now this whole thing about tickets… it’s absolutely impossible to get tickets,” England fan Joe McNicol told DW.
“I think they’ve priced people out. They haven’t restricted it, so anyone can get a wheelchair ticket, an accessible ticket. You don’t have to prove that you need it, which is what you normally do.”
Profit before people?
McNicol has been a regular at club matches and international tournaments for many years and was at the last World Cup in Qatar, where she found the access “fantastic”. There, he said, disabled fans were given a proportion of the tickets available to purchase upon providing proof of their disability, as is typically the case at sporting events in Europe.
Given this, McNicol booked a flight and rented a campervan for a trip this year. But she has been unable to secure a ticket through the ballot system run by tournament organizer FIFA and is now unlikely to attend.
The organization has come under criticism due to excessive profiteering. These include: higher initial prices of tickets, adding new higher categories to tickets without announcement, changing people’s seats after purchase, making transport and parking more expensive than usual and profiting from a 15% levy on buyers and sellers in the newly introduced resale portal.
With Category 4 tickets, the cheapest, seemingly not available to disabled fans – Perhaps because they are found in the farthest, highest corners of the land – McNicol and his ilk can only reach Category 3 and above through said portal. This is if no matches have been declared sold out by FIFA. The BBC reported earlier this month The cheapest Category 3 ticket for England’s opening match is $898 (€762), which is more than the face price of $265.
Disabled fans pay twice
James Flanagan of the advocacy group Football Supporters Europe said that tickets for fans with disabilities in Qatar were available for about $10 and that FIFA’s current policies are “a step backward” that are “excluding people with disabilities from tournaments.”
With matches requiring multiple people, Flanagan said charging for a partner is an additional penalty.
“Charging for companion tickets, which FIFA has included in its policies, effectively doubles the cost,” he told DW. “There will also be no discounts on accessible parking. This will be a challenge for all disabled fans, and time is running out for change.”
FIFA responded to neither DW nor FSE’s questions. But Their website confirms the issues raised by fans and FSE.
“They won’t even guarantee that the PA [companion] The tickets will be next to you,” said McNicol, who uses a wheelchair. “But you need them. If I drop something on the floor I can’t pick it up. If I want to use the bathroom, I need help. And you just want to sit with someone you want to sit with, not a group of strangers. You want that option.”
Fans ignored by FIFA
FIFA’s policy is that “Teammates will be seated as close to you as possible. However, the exact location of a seat cannot be guaranteed, and FIFA Ticketing cannot ensure that it will be exactly next to your seat.”
Flanagan considers this unacceptable. He said, “It is not a choice that people have to have a companion with them. It is a requirement, and it is an unfair financial burden on people with disabilities. We believe the policy is contrary to FIFA’s own commitments on inclusion and human rights.”
“FIFA needs to listen to people with disabilities, and I don’t think fans are being consulted.”
Parking for disabled fans is also a point of contention, with public transport being limited in many locations. While FIFA General Access Policy It notes that disabled parking “should be provided adjacent to or adjacent to the stadium” does not suggest it should be free or subsidized. And it is not so.
“Currently, fans are being asked exorbitant prices for match tickets, but also $150 to $300 for accessible parking, depending on the venue,” Flanagan said. “The price these fans have to pay is unacceptable.”
Interview and editing: Dave Branek