FIFA to investigate ticketing backlash for empty seats during Uruguay-Egypt encounter

Bengaluru, June 17: FIFA have confirmed that they will investigate a discrepancy between the number of tickets that were allocated for Uruguay and Egypt compared to the actual attendance at the Ekaterinburg Arena on Friday (June 15).

Uruguay defender Jose Gimenez went wild after thumping home a 90th-minute header to beat Egypt but there were 6,000 empty seats instead of jubilant fans to join in the celebrations.

Fans across the world were quick to jump on social media and point out that there was a large number of empty seats inside the stadium - adding to concerns that ticket prices were too high for the competition in Russia.

A giant 20 per cent of the seats in the ground went without bums, with red-faced World Cup chiefs blaming ticket holders for swerving the event.

A FIFA spokesman said: "We can confirm that the official attendance for the match between Egypt and Uruguay in Ekaterinburg is 27,015. The Fifa World Cup stadium capacity is 33,061.

"The fact that the actual attendance is lower than the number of allocated tickets can be due to different factors, including 'no shows' on match day, which Fifa is currently investigating."

Several fixtures have been billed as sell-outs but similarly, sparse stadiums are expected in the coming weeks.

As of Friday evening, tickets were still available to buy for all four of Saturday's games, featuring the likes of France, Argentina and Croatia.

Tickets are also still on sale for England's Monday opener with Tunisia in Volgograd, priced from £124 to £158.

The Ekaterinburg Arena is a curious venue at this World Cup, with two temporary stands having been installed in order for it to raise its capacity from its usual 23,000 to the tournament-issue 35,000.

It is the most easterly venue at the tournament and has three further games slated, the next being France v Peru on June 21.