Fifa, the governing body of world football, said in a statement that it had created “Supporter Entry Tier tickets set at US$60 each and available for all 104 matches, including the final”.
It said the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.
Fifa said that the $60 (€51) tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10% of each national federation’s allotment.
Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded by saying Fifa was offering too little.
“While we welcome Fifa’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE said Tuesday in a statement.
Last week, FSE said ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar.
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final, it would cost them a minimum of US$6,900,” it said at the time, adding that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from US$21 in a bid document released in 2018.
On Tuesday, FSE said Fifa was reacting to complaints.
“For the moment we are looking at the Fifa announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” FSE said.
“This shows that Fifa’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and was without proper consultation – including with Fifa’s own member associations.
“Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the US$60 prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices, way higher than at any tournament before.”
The organisation also criticised the failure to make provisions for supporters with disabilities or their companions.
Announcing the US$60 tickets on Tuesday, Fifa said that national federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams”.
Fifa also said that if fans bought tickets for games in the knockout rounds only to find their team eliminated at an earlier stage, they “will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed.”
It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets”, with 20 million requests already submitted.
The draw for tickets of all prices in this first round of sales will take place on Tuesday, Jan 13.