If you are going to the Qatar World Cup, you must purchase match tickets before accessing the accommodation offers. – Our members have bought tickets. But what we see is that many of them cannot afford to travel anyway. That’s what CEO Ronan Evain of Football Supporters Europe (FSE) says. FSE has calculated the cheapest possible budget for Western European supporters who want to follow their team all the way to the final. According to Evain, it is difficult to do so with less than NOK 80,000. It is two to three times more expensive than the World Cup in Russia or Brazil. The FSE members experience being excluded. – Fans say they are priced out, says Evain. An expensive World Cup Never before has Fifa sold so many VIP packages as this year. They brag about it. – Qatar is the most successful VIP program to date. With a month to go until kick-off, the revenue from the sale of VIP packages is already almost 10 percent above that achieved after the conclusion of the Brazil World Cup, which was the best in terms of VIP sales. That is what Fifa writes to news in an e-mail. The match tickets themselves have increased considerably in price compared to the Russia World Cup, according to Statista. The final ticket is 46 percent more expensive. Hotel prices are also sky high. The very cheapest option, which is a bed in a two-star shared room, costs NOK 858 per night, according to the WC’s official accommodation agency. And the plane tickets? Only 47 percent of the seats booked for Qatar during the World Cup period are economy tickets, according to analysis company ForwardKeys. In the same period in 2019, the last “normal” year before the pandemic, the proportion of economy tickets was 69 per cent. – The Qatar WC is a first-class event, says ForwardKeys to news. Football nerd Claus Andersen is on the go all year round. – I am happy to meet people around the world as often as I can, he says. Photo: Privat Having to drop out of the WC this year Danish Claus Andersen calls himself a football nerd. My livelihood is my job as a freelance tour guide in the tourism industry. In the off-season, he cycles around the world to watch football matches and meet supporters. According to Andersen, he has been to football matches in 40 countries in the last three years. The World Cup is certainly the best football event he knows about. He has been to four WCs before. – It is an international party for football nerds from all corners of the world. To sit in the stadium with so many fans who have the same passion as you is indescribable, he says. Andersen had intended to cycle the longest part of the road between Denmark and Qatar this year, but he had to change that plan. Hotel prices are the main reason. – I can’t cycle that far to be there for a couple of days. And if I’m going to stay there for one month, which I usually do when it’s the World Cup, the stay alone will cost me at least NOK 55,000 – if I can find free space in the most modest accommodation options. That sum is twice as much as his entire tour budget during the Russia World Cup four years ago. – I know many people who sell their match tickets. When they had to find a place to stay, the cheapest accommodation offers had already been taken. The Qatar WC is only for the rich, says Andersen. Think rich fans don’t create as good an atmosphere The best experience in the World Cup, Andersen believes, is what happens in the last hours before a match starts. Especially during the group matches, which are the cheapest. – Then we go into the stadium in crowds. These are fans who have saved money over several years to be able to travel and cheer on their favorite team. So much love, so much passion. I have met fans who have sold their house, he claims. The cycling viking, as he likes to be called, believes these supporters are real “big fans”. – Because of the prices, there will be fewer big fans at the Qatar WC. It will do something with the atmosphere. The atmosphere will be quite boring, says Andersen. – What do you mean by the atmosphere becoming boring when the fans are rich? – Maybe the word boring is wrong. But there will certainly be less atmosphere, especially during the group matches. Rich fans see prestige in going to the final because the final tickets are expensive. There they meet other rich fans. Many of them go to network and talk business, says Andersen. Claus Andersen exchanges T-shirts and scarves with fans he meets in other countries. Photo: Privat Will meet fans in another country Although Andersen will not travel to the Qatar World Cup, he has found an alternative solution. – I’m going to Istanbul. It is a city with many international soccer geeks. Many clubs and cafes stream the matches. Every day I will be at a new cafe. Andersen believes it won’t be the same as being in the stadium, but it comforts him that he gets to meet other committed supporters. It is a week until Andersen throws his pack on his back and sets off. – It’s not as much fun when you watch the match from a distance and in slow motion. At the same time, there isn’t a Turk who doesn’t have a favorite team, and it’s these discussions that I look forward to the most. I also like to exchange T-shirts and scarves with fans I meet, says Andersen.
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– The Qatar World Cup is only for the rich – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
