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Author: screenman
After paying hundreds or thousands of dollars for the “right to buy” 2026 World Cup tickets, some fans now say they feel “ripped off,” “scammed” or “taken advantage of” by FIFA and its digital collectibles platform, FIFA Collect.
 
 
Over the past year, FIFA and a crypto partner, Modex, have sold tens of thousands of “Right To Buy” tokens on the platform. Each token cost hundreds of dollars and promised buyers the ability to purchase one or two World Cup tickets at a to-be-determined later date, for a to-be-determined full price.
 
 
“Owning an RTB does not include the cost of the ticket(s) itself,” FIFA Collect clarified on an FAQ page.
 
 
Still, fans and scalpers flocked to the platform. Many saw the so-called “RTBs” as a clever way to bypass ticket lotteries, and perhaps more cost-effective than buying on the secondary market, where tickets are currently listed for far more than their original price.
 
 
But on Tuesday, when FIFA Collect administrators revealed that only Category 1 and 2 tickets — the most expensive tickets, and therefore the least coveted in FIFA’s first sales phase — would be available to the vast majority of RTB holders, some of the holders fumed.
 
 
“NO WAY,” one wrote incredulously in a Discord channel where users interact with one another and with FIFA Collect admins.
 
 
“This is so bad, there’s no value in buying a RTB,” another said.
 
 
Multiple RTB holders told The Athletic that they and many others had assumed they’d be able to use the tokens to buy more affordable tickets. Early buyers were told by FIFA Collect in a December 2024 email reviewed by The Athletic: “Tickets will be available across different categories, providing options to suit various preferences and needs.”
 
 
Jon Heath, one of those buyers, told The Athletic: “The whole point for me was (seemingly) access to face value tickets in cheaper categories.”
 
 
Instead, having already spent thousands of dollars apiece on RTBs for the U.S. men’s national team’s opening match, he’ll now have to pay an additional $1,940 per Category 2 ticket or $2,735 per Category 1 ticket.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5791934&forum_id=2)#49390133)