- Precious few matches at the summer tournament have been played in full a arena
- FIFA will be hopeful of attracting larger crowds to stadiums during quarter-finals
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FIFA have been offering more free tickets to Club World Cup matches, Mail Sport understands.
Earlier this week, we revealed that the governing body had told those who paid to see Chelsea’s weather-delayed victory over Benfica in Charlotte that they could have four complimentary seats for the fixture between Inter Milan and Fluminense at the same stadium.
At the time, FIFA seemed to suggest that the offer was a form of compensation after the Chelsea game had been hit by a two-hour pause thanks to the threat of thunderstorms in the area.
In an email to those involved, they said the move was ‘a token of our appreciation’ for the 25,929 who attended the fixture at what was an empty-looking 74,867-capacity venue.
However, Mail Sport has since learned that FIFA has delivered a similar offer elsewhere. Those who bought tickets for Paris Saint-Germain’s match with Inter Miami on Sunday – at the indoor Mercedes Benz Arena in Atlanta – were subsequently offered two free tickets for Borussia Dortmund’s last-16 victory over Mexicans Monterrey on Tuesday.
Despite the offer, the cavernous venue with a 71,000-capacity was less than half full, with a reported 31,442 present and the upper deck not needed.
Earlier in the tournament, Mail Sport revealed that FIFA had been moving those who had bought tickets for matches to seats facing television cameras, in an apparent attempt to make stadia appear more populated and improve optics.
Despite some healthy attendances, many of the games in the revamped, expanded tournament have failed to capture the imagination of the US public.
FIFA will be hoping that it is a different story for the quarter-finals, which feature the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
They may well, however, be nervous over Brazilians Fluminense’s clash with the Saudi Arabian conquerors of Manchester City, Al-Hilal. That match will take place on Friday afternoon, local time, at Orlando’s 65,000-capacity Camping World Stadium.
