The 2026 World Cup just released official match schedules, and FIFA is already in a fight it should have seen coming. Football Supporters Europe—specifically its Disability & Inclusion Fan Network—just sent a letter to Gianni Infantino accusing the organization of building a ticketing system that prices out the very people it claims to accommodate.

This isn’t about sticker shock. Everyone knows World Cup tickets are expensive. The accusation is sharper: that the “accessibility” category doesn’t actually make the tournament accessible.

Here’s the problem. According to FSE, accessibility tickets aren’t available in Category 4—the cheapest tier. They only show up in Categories 1 through 3. If that’s right, a disabled fan’s floor price for a group-stage match sits between $140 and $450. The ceiling for everyone else’s cheapest option is someone else’s starting point.

This stacks on costs most fans never think about. Getting to the stadium in a wheelchair isn’t the same price as catching an Uber. Accessible hotels cost more. Equipment, personal help—it adds up before you’ve bought a single ticket. A $300 group-stage seat isn’t expensive at that point. It’s out of reach.

The numbers get uglier at the top. FSE says the cheapest accessibility ticket for the final would run $4,185. We had to read that twice. For one seat. At the “accessible” price.

Then there’s the resale mess. FSE claims accessibility tickets are already appearing on FIFA’s own resale platform at six times face value, with no price cap in place. So tickets meant for disabled fans can be flipped for profit, by anyone, immediately. That’s not a loophole. That’s a design choice.

The companion problem is where this falls apart completely

If you want to understand why this pricing structure fails, look at companion tickets.

Many disabled supporters can’t attend a match alone. A companion isn’t an upgrade or a nice-to-have—it’s how they get into the stadium safely. FSE put it plainly: “For many supporters with disabilities, attending a match without a companion is not a choice but an impossibility.”

FIFA charges for that companion seat.

Think about what that means. If you’re a wheelchair user who needs someone to help you navigate a 70,000-seat stadium, you don’t pay for one ticket. You pay for two. The same $300 group-stage ticket becomes $600. The $4,185 final becomes $8,370.

FSE called this “an unfair tax,” and I don’t think that’s rhetorical. It’s descriptive. Disabled fans face a binary: pay double or stay home.

What makes this sting is the comparison. FSE says Qatar 2022 group-stage accessibility tickets were priced at €10 and included a free companion ticket (though FIFA’s policies varied by accessibility ticket type). Whatever you think of that tournament—and there’s plenty to criticize—the ticketing understood something basic: if you’re going to call a category “accessible,” price shouldn’t be the barrier.

FSE called FIFA’s reversal “incomprehensible.” Let’s use a different word. Deliberate.

FIFA’s response tells you everything

When asked about pricing, a FIFA spokesperson told The Athletic that “the pricing model reflects the existing market practice for major entertainment and sporting events within our hosts on a daily basis, soccer included.”

Read that again. The defense is: this is what the market does.

Which is true. And also the point. The market doesn’t care about accessibility. The market prices seats based on demand and sightlines. If FIFA wants to claim the World Cup “belongs to everyone”—and they do, constantly—then hiding behind market logic is an admission that the slogan means nothing.

Accessibility isn’t a seating category. It’s a question of whether someone can actually attend. When your cheapest option is $140, and your companion policy doubles the cost, you’ve answered that question. Just not the way the branding suggests.