FIFA have come under fire over an embarrassing Women’s World Cup ticket mix-up which threatened to leave fans sitting apart from their friends and families.
Fans who paid for groups of seats discovered they would not be sitting together due to a technical error.
It meant thousands may have had to sit on their own to watch games, unless they could arrange swaps.
And FIFA at first said there was nothing they could do about the debacle, despite complaints from angry fans – before then saying they were “confident the problems will be solved”
With the global profile of the women’s game greater than ever before, this summer’s Women’s World Cup is expected to be the biggest ever and was supposed to be a milestone event for the sport.
(Image: Lynne Cameron for The FA)
World Governing body FIFA issued a statement on Twitter saying: “Dear fans. We have noted some of your comments, re: your tickets.
“When you placed your order, a message indicating not all seats would be located next to each other did appear, before confirmation of your purchase. Unfortunately we will not be able to modify your order.
“However, an exception could be made for parents whose seats are not next to the seats of their underage children (18 years old and younger). For more info, do not hesitate to contact the ticketing customer service team.”
(Image: Getty)
Disgruntled fans replied, calling the situation “ridiculous” and demanding the policy be changed. Twitter User @DavidMiller0789 replied: “Just a heads up that I’m not separating from my wife at a major sporting event on another continent. Fix this.”
FIFA then had to make another embarrassing statement claiming their initial apology was based on false information.
The statement said: “The previous tweets regarding FIFA Women’s World Cup tickets allocation were published without a full understanding of the situation and we apologise for that.
“The issues were faced by less than 1% of fans requesting tickets for the semi-finals and the final.”
“FIFA and the Local Organising Committee are confident the problems will be solved and the fans will be able to enjoy the matches as they envisaged.”
The 2019 Women’s World Cup takes place in France from June 7 to July 7.
England and Scotland have both qualified and have been paired together in Group D. They meet in their first match in Nice on June 9.
