One hardcore football fan from England is hoping to sell a house and use the cash to finance his trip to the World Cup this summer.
Andy Milne, a 62-year-old retired teacher, says he is ready to cash in on a second residency so he can afford to follow the football tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
This will be his 10th World Cup supporting England, ninth for the men plus the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Milne has become a cult figure among England fans, often seen holding a replica World Cup trophy.
He lives in Thailand and has been renting out the house in northern England that he hopes to sell for £350,000 pounds (€403,000).
"It is going on the market because I'm selling it to go to the World Cup," Milne told British tabloid daily The Mirror.
"We have had a second home for 27 years so it felt like the right time to cash in."
"I definitely want to see the whole tournament. I am going to the US on 3 June and will be there for seven weeks. So it will cost quite a lot of money," he told the paper.
Milne said he will be in Dallas for England's first game against Croatia on 17 June. England then plays Ghana in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on 23 June, and finishes its group phase against Panama in New Jersey on 27 June.
Monumental betrayal
In addition to the high travel costs to move between venues, fans have criticised FIFA's ticket pricing strategy for the World Cup.
Fan groups accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" in December when tickets were put on general sale ranging from $140 (€121) for the cheapest group games to $8,680 (€7,530) for the final.
On Tuesday, football fans launched a formal complaint with the European Commission against FIFA over ticket prices.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said it joined with consumer group Euroconsumers to allege football’s governing body had abused its position to impose excessive prices.
"FIFA holds a monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be acceptable in a competitive market," FSE and Euroconsumers said in a joint statement.
Besides the exorbitant prices, FSE also claimed FIFA deployed pressure-selling tactics and criticised the transparency of the process.
It has called for prices to be frozen during the next round of sales in April and for dynamic pricing to be stopped when selling to fans in Europe.
