FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Tuesday that the inaugural Club World Cup match between Inter Miami CF and Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium on June 14 will be sold out, despite thousands of tickets still being available.
FIFA originally listed the tickets between $250 and $350 for the match, before marking down prices to as low as $55.
“Yes, Hard Rock will be full. We will have a great atmosphere. It will be historic. It’ll be two historic teams for very different reasons. The stadium will be full,” said Infantino. “Well, as for every new venture that anyone tries to create in the world, you know, there are always discussions and you never really know what will happen.
“We were lucky enough that we got great attention from sponsors and broadcasters so that when it comes to revenues, everything is perfectly secured. But I’m sure that all those who will come, and there are still tickets available, but many will go out these days.”
According to Ticketmaster, the official ticket site for the Club World Cup, none of the scheduled group stage games have sold out yet.
When asked if the current travel ban imposed by the Trump administration or the ongoing ICE raids across the country and locally in Los Angeles where Paris Saint-Germain plays Atlético Madrid at the Rose Bowl Sunday would affect the attendance of the tournament, Infantino said FIFA was not concerned.
Mexico, which is in Los Angeles to kick off its defense of the 2023 Gold Cup, decided on Tuesday to switch hotels from downtown to Long Beach due to safety concerns surrounding the clashes between ICE and community protests in the city’s center.
“No, I don’t have any concerns about anything in the sense that we are very attentive to any security question of course,” Infantino said. “The most important for us is to guarantee security for all fans who come to the games and this is our priority and the priority of all the authorities who are here.
“We want everyone who comes to the games to pass a good moment. Nobody should think that they can come to a game and create problems. This will not happen obviously here as anywhere else in the world unfortunately. We have seen in the past instances of violence in matches, but I’m sure that here it will be a great great celebration.”
The Trump administration recently announced a complete ban on incoming travel from countries including Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and heightened restrictions for people coming from Cuba, Venezuela and Laos, among others.
Iran qualified to the 2026 World Cup earlier this year, while Venezuela remains on the verge of earning their first ever ticket to the tournament, sitting in seventh place on the CONMEBOL table.
FIFA, however, has been given reassurance that “the policy makes exceptions for athletes coming in for major sporting events” such as the World Cup or Olympics.
The Club World Cup runs from June 14 to July 13 as 32 teams compete for the first edition of the new trophy.-ESPN
