Tartan Army 'taking back control' from Fifa with fan ticket exchange

Tartan Army 'taking back control' from Fifa with fan ticket exchange13 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleIona YoungGetty ImagesThe Tartan Army says it is "taking back control" over soaring World Cup prices with a fan-run ticket swap website for supporters.Ticket Exchange, set up by Edinburgh fan Carey McEvoy, says Scotland fans can swap and sell World Cup briefs without "obnoxious" resale mark-ups.The 54-year-old ran a similar operation during Euro 2024, but says the high costs involved in the US tournament have made this "very different".The cheapest recent tickets for Scotland's opening match against Haiti in Boston were $380 - the most expensive more than $2,000.There have been various Fifa ticket sales with some using a dynamic pricing model - where prices are adjusted in real-time based on demand.McEvoy, who is taking his 17-year-old son to his first World Cup, said he set up the group to help "desperate" fans who had paid for travel but had little hope of tickets.Fans pay a £5 fee to register, which is donated to the Tartan Army Sunshine charity.PA MediaThousands of Scottish fans are due to travel to the US for the World Cup"The cost and the resale fees from Fifa are obnoxious," McEvoy told BBC Scotland News."At first 100 people signed up and were all quite happy to donate a fiver because it was for charity."I guess they thought, I have already spent thousands going to America - what's an extra fiver?"There are about 600 people in the Ticket Exchange group and currently about 80 with tickets to swap or sell.'Happy to chip in'McEvoy runs the exchange with fellow fans Gill Taggart and Gordon Forbes, who help facilitate transactions to make sure "no one gets scammed". Despite struggling to find enough tickets to go round, McEvoy said the experience has been positive for Tartan Army fans. McEvoy said: "We ran something similar during the Euros wh...