High World Cup prices force Mexicans to celebrate differently

(AP): “GOOOOOOOOOAL!”

The thunderous cry rings out over a crowd gathered in front of a television propped

up on plastic tables and past a maze of vendors lining a bustling working-class

neighbourhood in downtown Mexico City.

It echoes over fans across the Latin American nation, who roar as they watch

Mexico’s national team win another match in the FIFA World Cup with eyes glued to

screens set up in plazas, below highway underpasses and tucked away in taco

stands. Priced out of stadium tickets to the tournament their country is hosting

alongside the US and Canada, many Mexicans are reclaiming the event and staging

their own celebrations on the streets.

“Honestly, there’s nothing like going to the stadiums, but I prefer being here in the

street. For me it’s like watching the game from my living room,” said Esmeralda

Serrato, who watched a TV in the street with dozens of neighbours. “I feel the blood

rushing through my veins saying ‘This is the World Cup’.”

World Cup festivities in Mexico have generated an almost incalculable buzz as

hundreds of thousands of people gather in mass celebrations in host cities including

Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey following the country’s two consecutive

victories. But the street parties also come after months of scrutiny as FIFA has faced

searing criticism across the globe for soaring World Cup ticket prices. In Mexico,

where the average worker earns around US$433 (approximately J$67,864) a month

and soccer is considered a sport that unites people across class, the gap between

who can and cannot get into games is felt acutely.

That has fuelled social tensions and left many Mexicans feeling as if “it’s a party we

weren’t invited to,” said Diego Merla, fiscal justice coordinator for Oxfam Mexico.

“The World Cup is built around the logic of squeezing as much value out of it as

possible,” Merla said. “It’s about getting those who are willing and able to pay the

absolute maximum. And that ends up excluding a lot of people.”

Earlier this year, tickets went on sale at prices ranging from $140 to $8,680, but

have since skyrocketed, with some tickets to the World Cup final costing around

$32,970.

In the wake of mounting criticisms, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended

high ticket prices as fitting the US market.

“You cannot go to watch in the US a college game, not even speaking about a top

professional game of a certain level, for less than $300,” Infantino said. “And this is

the World Cup.”

For fans like Guillermo Ramírez, the solution was to take things into their own

hands. Ramírez, 49, is a native of Tepito, the working-class Mexico City

neighbourhood that is home to sprawling street markets packed with pirated World

Cup jerseys.

Here, football is a symbol of resistance and local identity in an area of the city most

commonly associated with crime. Nestled in the heart of the dense markets is a field

named after Bernardo Manolete Hernández, a renowned Mexican soccer player born

in the neighbourhood.

Just a block away from the field, Ramírez, wearing a bright green and white Mexico

jersey, set up a TV screen and speakers on top of two plastic tables in front of his

house and small corner shop before Mexico faced off against South Korea. He

remembers as a young boy watching the 1986 Mexico World Cup from TVs set up by

neighbours unable to get into stadiums.

“There are a lot of us who simply can’t afford to go to the stadium,” Ramírez said.

“Tepito is a soccer barrio, and when there’s a match on, everyone takes out their

TVs to watch, especially now during the World Cup.”

Throngs of neighbours crowd around his screen, wearing green and red lucha libre

masks, cradling their kids and cracking open a beer from Ramírez’s corner shop.

When their team wins, Ramírez’s neighbours and large swaths of Mexico City erupt,

with tens of thousands of people flooding the streets and flocking to Mexico City’s

central monument, the Angel de la Independencia.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has also criticised the costs and said last week

that FIFA leaders should reflect on their pricing decisions.