TRAVELLING fans will have to pay an eye-watering £80 for the cheapest ticket to watch group stage matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it has been revealed.
But Russian fans will be able to buy the same tickets for just £15 after world governing body FIFA revealed their price hike would only be imposed on supporters from abroad.
Fans from the host nation are usually offered discounted tickets but the price difference has led claims that supporters are being exported.
That $105 (£80) ticket only covers Category 3 tickets, the least desirable seats.
The most expensive, Category 1, group match ticket will sell for $210 (£160), while the price for a final ticket has increased almost £200.
A Category 1 ticket for the 2014 Final in Brazil, during which Germany beat Argentina, was available for £650 – that same ticket will be approximately £841 in Russia.
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Speaking from Moscow’s Luzniki Stadium in Moscow, FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura said the tickets had been “priced fairly”.
She said: “We wanted to make sure that we priced tickets fairly to make the events accessible to as many people as possible.
“We therefore conducted thorough market research and have priced the tickets accordingly.”
After violence erupted in France, notably between English and Russian fans inside and outside the stadium in Marseille, Samoura admitted that there will be “additional measures” to ensure security is tight at the competition.
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