MEXICO CITY — Ecuador fans hoping to score tickets to the round of 32 might have some trouble.
An uproar arose on Sunday when it was discovered that several fans of La Tri were unsuccessful in their attempts to buy tickets to support their country against Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday, June 30. The blame was initially placed onto the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) by Ecuadorian fans and media alike, but they have since been debunked.
Reports, like this one by journalist José Alberto Molestina that gained traction with more than 1.1 million views on X, formerly Twitter, claim that Ecuador was supposed to receive 8% of available tickets from the FMF, but that they had refused to do so in an apparent attempt to limit the amount of Ecuadorian support in the stands.
"The Mexican Federation isn't responding, isn't taking orders and isn't selling us tickets," Molestina said in Spanish. "At this time, there are a lot of Ecuadorians who want to buy tickets to watch the match against Mexico but it's going to be very difficult. The Mexican Federation isn't responding, and it appears that they don't want Ecuadorians in the stadium."
That argument falls apart, however, because all ticketing for the World Cup is handled by FIFA regardless of host country.
Another journalist, Alejandro Orvañanos of Claro Sports, responded directly to Molestina by clarifying that FIFA offered the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) the tickets in February, but the federation declined to buy them.
"Every team has a right to a percentage of tickets, regardless of where you play and how far you go," Orvañanos said. "Investigate it."
According to the FIFA website, up to 16% of available World Cup tickets are set aside for each of the 48 teams competing, also known as Participating Member Associations or PMAs. Supporters who meet the criteria defined by their national teams are then eligible to buy tickets directly from their PMA instead of through the general public ticket draw.
Or, as RÉCORD and TV Azteca's Carlos Ponce de León noted, "Said tickets are distributed by each federation. It has nothing to do with the FMF in the Ecuadorians' case."
Molestina later gave an update on his original rant four hours after it was debunked, saying that the FEF now had "direct communication" (presumably with FIFA) and that the corresponding tickets were being delivered to the Ecuadorian Federation.
Source: USA Today
