Scotland World Cup disabled ticket allocation 'not good enough'

A Scotland fans' representative has described Fifa's World Cup ticket allocation for disabled supporters as "simply not good enough".

Stephen Reside also hit out at the pricing structure for this summer's tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.

And he said fans' carers - who were granted free admission to the 2022 World Cup - had to pay for a match ticket without any guarantee they would be seated together.

BBC Scotland News has approached football's global governing body for comment.

Reside, 32, said that the numbers for both wheelchair users and "ambulant" disabled fans, who do not normally use a wheelchair, were confirmed on Monday - 24 hours before the official ticket application window closed.

He told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme: "It works out for each game we are getting six wheelchair spaces and six carers and three ambulant spaces and three carers."

Reside, who is the Scottish Football Union's disability lead, said the 65,000 capacity Miami stadium - where Scotland will play Brazil - has 300 wheelchair spaces.

He added: "It works out to be 2% of wheelchair spaces within the stadium that will be available to Scotland supporters.

"It is simply not good enough."

Reside, from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, said the ticket percentage share for non-disabled Scotland fans was around 5.7% of the allocation.

He added: "In my view Scotland supporters should be given 5.7% of wheelchair spaces available at least."

Reside said he did not know how many disabled supporters plan to travel to the World Cup.

Scotland's men secured qualification for the first time since 1998 after a thrilling 4-2 victory over Denmark in November.

The following month Steve Clarke's side were drawn in the same group as Haiti, African Nation finalists Morocco and five-time winners Brazil.

Since then Tartan Army footsoldiers have been scrambling to book flights, accommodation and secure match tickets.

Scotland will play Haiti (14 June) and Morocco (19 June) in Boston, before taking on Brazil in Miami (24 June).

The opening match kicks off at 02:00 BST while the remaining two will get under way at 23:00.

In a further blow, Reside - who travelled to last summer's Euros in Germany - said Fifa were selling tickets on their resale platforms.

He said some category one tickets for group matches were going for $889 (£663).

Reside said: "The Qatar World Cup group stage matches cost between $10 (£7) and $12 (£9) and you were getting a carer free.

"With the resale you are not getting a carer free because legislation in America also allows them to also charge for a carer."

He said as well as supporter's carers having to secure a match ticket it was "not guaranteed" they would be seated together.

Reside had planned to attend Scotland's opening match against Haiti in Boston and the final group game against Brazil in Miami.

But he told the programme that was "not looking likely" due to the small number of tickets available.

He added: "They only have two for each category for wheelchair users and one for each category for ambulant disabled supporters.

"Fifa love to talk about how inclusive they are.

"For me their numbers simply aren't reflecting that."

Reside said he had no issues at all with the Scottish Football Association and said it was doing everything it could to secure more tickets for disabled fans.

Scotland supporters could enter the members' association ballot or the random selection one before the 13 January deadline.

But Reside said: "I think people were apprehensive to apply for both because, if you were successful in both you, were obligated to pay for both tickets."

Last month Fifa president Gianni Infantino defended the cost of World Cup tickets by saying they reflect the public's "absolutely crazy" demand for the tournament.

Group stage tickets are up to three times the price of those for the last World Cup in Qatar, while the cheapest ticket for the final in New Jersey is £3,119.

Infantino told the World Sports Summit in Dubai that the level of demand far outstrips supply.

He said: "We have six to seven million tickets on sale and in 15 days we received 150 million ticket requests.

"So 10 million ticket requests every single day. It shows how powerful the World Cup is."

Last week the Level Playing Field charity warned that failures to address concerns around accessibility for the World Cup risked excluding many supporters.

It also said disabled fans were set to face "higher, unavoidable costs" of attending than non-disabled supporters.

The charity also highlighted the uncertainty over allocation numbers and the positioning of companions.

Level Playing Field raised concerns with Fifa last month and as of last week had yet to receive a response.

Chairman Tony Taylor, said: "This ongoing uncertainty over accessible ticketing is unacceptable.

"The current situation appears to expect disabled fans to gamble on cost and access.

"Restricting access to the lowest pricing tiers and charging for personal assistants, add unavoidable, additional, disability-related costs to attending."

He added Fifa's failure to respond to Level Playing Field's concerns was "deeply frustrating and wholly unacceptable".

BBC Scotland has asked the charity for an update on its request to Fifa.

The 2026 World Cup will feature 48 teams and be played from 11 June to 19 July in 16 cities across the US, Canada and Mexico.