FIFA starts ticket sales in Russia for Confederations Cup

The FIFA started today selling tickets in person for the Confederations Cup, which will take place in June, with the opening of three centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi.

Fans will be able to purchase tickets in person until July 2nd, when the tournament final will be held in St. Petersburg.

So far, 211,000 tickets have been sold online, while the organization has set a goal of selling almost 700,000 tickets.

The Russian Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, acknowledged that the organizing committee is concerned about the slow ticket sales pace, although he expressed confidence that the opening of the sales centers will boost interest from now on.

Mutko emphasizes that Russians like to buy tickets in person, while FIFA believes that another characteristic of Russian idiosyncrasy is leaving things until the last moment.

Regarding the purchase of online tickets, Russians are at the top of the list, ahead of Mexicans and Chileans.

The organization reminds that buying a ticket is not enough to attend the matches, as it is also necessary to request a fan passport, one of its objectives being to limit the access of ultras to the stadiums.

The Confederations Cup will also be played in Kazan, which will soon open its sales center, according to FIFA in a statement.

FIFA will soon make the final inspection visit to Russia, which has built three new stadiums for this competition and will also host the World Cup in 2018: Kazan, Spartak Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In addition, Sochi, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics, has been transformed into a soccer stadium and will host the Russian Cup final on May 2nd.

The St. Petersburg stadium, marked by numerous scandals and constant delays, could host its first match this weekend, between Zenit and Ural, corresponding to the Russian league.

The world champion, Germany; the European champion, Portugal; the South American champion, Chile; and the Central American champion, Mexico, among others, will compete in the Confederations Cup between June 17th and July 2nd.