July 19 – On the eve of the Women’s World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has called on New Zealanders to buy into the tournament and get their tickets for the 32-team finals. Slow ticket sales have raised the spectre of empty seats in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.
Speaking in Auckland, Infantino and his secretary general Fatma Samoura both issued a plea to New Zealanders to support the Women’s World Cup.
FIFA have reported that ticket sales have met expectations with 1.5 million people set to attend the 64 matches, but three times as many tickets have been sold in Australia and some of the matches between smaller nations in New Zealand are proving to be a difficult sale.
Last week, 20,000 tickets were offered for free courtesy of the accounting firm Xero.
Infantino called on New Zealand to “seize the moment”.
“New Zealand: We want you. We need you. It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he said.
“We know Kiwis are late ticket purchasers,” added Samoura. “We still have tickets available for matches and my only plea is don’t wait for the last moment. As Mr Infantino says, this is a moment to seize for every football fan in New Zealand. This is already the most attended women’s sporting event.”
On Wednesday, not a single match in New Zealand, including the United States vs Vietnam and the semi-final at Eden Park, was sold out on FIFA’s ticketing portal.
Previously, former prime minister Jacinda Ardern had urged New Zealanders to “jump online and join in” in a bid to battle low enthusiasm among the locals.
The tournament’s opening match between the co-hosts and Norway at Eden Park is expected to be a sellout, even though on Wednesday there was still some availability on the ticketing portal.
The Football Ferns have never won a match at the World Cup finals.
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