The eye-watering ticket prices for the World Cup, much like the cost of housing, starkly illustrate the divide between the wealthy and everyone else, writes Richard Eltringham in a letter to the editor. World Cup tickets now tell the same story as housing: priced so far beyond ordinary people that even Mexico's president said she skipped the opening match because the seats were simply too expensive.
When a head of state publicly admits she cannot justify the cost, what chance does a normal supporter have? Yet Fifa still insists the tournament is 'for everyone,' even as vast sections of the stadium fill only with those who can absorb eye-watering prices.
Television pundits try to sound sympathetic, but it is hard to take them seriously when they casually reference the fortunes they earned from the same industry that priced supporters out. This mirrors the wider divide: those who glide between premium events and premium postcodes, and those told to accept whatever scraps remain.
In a world living beyond its means, it is remarkable that tensions do not flare more often. A functioning society needs housing and public life that people can actually afford.
