Social media in Uzbekistan has been flooded with videos from fans alleging that match tickets allocated by FIFA to the Uzbekistan Football Association (UFA) were being resold at inflated prices by a group of individuals. The UFA has issued an official statement to address the situation.
According to FIFA regulations, at least 8% of stadium capacity is reserved for organized supporters of each participating team, regardless of nationality. Thus, 16% of seats are allocated to fans of both competing teams, while the remaining 84% are made available for general sale to any football enthusiast.
Ticket prices for Uzbekistan's group stage matches were set by FIFA ranging from $140 to $700, with a limited number of seats priced at $60. A total of 14,073 tickets were allocated for organized support of the Uzbekistan national team, primarily in sections behind the goals.
Out of this quota, 8,064 tickets were purchased directly by Uzbek fans through FIFA. The remaining 6,009 tickets were reserved for pre-order by the UFA, the Ministry of Sports, the National Olympic Committee, the Uzbekistan Futsal Association, the Uzbekistan Professional Football League, the Uzbekistan Footballers' Union, regional football associations, professional football clubs, players and their families, organized fan groups, sports organizations, government agencies, sponsors, and the "Mahalla USA" organization for compatriots in the United States.
The UFA emphasized that tickets for these orders were provided to the aforementioned organizations at FIFA-set prices without any additional service fees. However, under FIFA regulations, ticket holders have the right to resell their tickets through FIFA's official Resale Platform. The UFA stated that it does not have the authority to prohibit or restrict the resale of purchased tickets.
It is worth recalling that the Uzbekistan national team participated in the World Cup for the first time in its history. In their opening match, Uzbekistan lost to Colombia 1-3. Abbosbek Fayzullayev scored the team's only goal, which was also the first goal in Uzbekistan's World Cup history. In the second round, Cannavaro's squad suffered a 0-5 defeat to Portugal. After the match, the head coach took responsibility for the result but expressed pride in his team. In their final group stage match, Uzbekistan lost to DR Congo 1-3, failing to advance to the knockout stage and concluding their tournament campaign.
Source: www.gazeta.uz