Azteca luxurious field house owners problem FIFA over 2026 World Cup

Luxurious field house owners at Mexico Metropolis’s Azteca Stadium have stated that for the 2026 World Cup they anticipate FIFA to respect a 60-year-old deal that provides house owners limitless entry to their seats for 99 years.

FIFA, in the meantime, has stated it needs full management of the World Cup stadiums 30 days earlier than the primary match and 7 days after the final.

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However the peculiar historical past of how the bins have been bought at Azteca has created battle, luxurious field proprietor Roberto Ruano stated.

Ruano, 61, the spokesman of an affiliation of 134 field house owners, stated he has no plans to surrender his luxurious field throughout the World Cup.

To assist finance the development of the stadium within the Nineteen Sixties, Mexican businessman Emilio Azcárraga Milmo offered bins to non-public buyers for 115,000 pesos, or about $9,000 on the time, giving the house owners rights to make use of them for 99 years.

That included entry to soccer matches, concert events and different occasions, together with the 1970 and 1986 World Cups in Mexico, Ruano stated.

“There have been no points in 1970. For the 1986 World Cup they needed us out and we met with FIFA officers, they usually allowed us to make use of our place with out further pay, so there is a precedent for it,” he stated.

Requested for remark, FIFA stated it’s collaborating with all 16 host cities of the 2026 World Cup, together with on reworking plans for Azteca Stadium, which is ready to go down in soccer historical past as the primary venue to host video games throughout three World Cups.

“Particular particulars on fan entry and different match info will probably be introduced in the end,” FIFA stated.

The Azteca bins are a high commodity in Mexico Metropolis. The present asking value for a 20-square-meter (65-square-foot) field ranges from 15 million to 25 million pesos ($900,000 to $1.5 million). Some house owners lease them out for particular occasions.

The 83,000-seat stadium will host 5 video games throughout the 2026 World Cup, together with the opening match.

“We have already paid for the correct to be there once we bought the title and there will be no restrictions for us,” Ruano stated. “We’ve a title to assist us. It is not up for debate.”

When the stadium is handed over to FIFA for the match co-hosted by Mexico, United States and Canada, Ruano stated he expects the world soccer physique to respect the deal relationship from the stadium’s development six many years in the past.

Ruano, whose father purchased the title for the field, stated he was hopeful the field subject can be resolved after talks with stadium officers final week, although no concrete proposal was on the desk but.

Emilio Azcárraga Jean, the proprietor of the stadium by way of multimedia firm Televisa and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, stated he anticipated an settlement quickly.

“For my father, on the time, it was essential to promote the bins to complete the development and, to date, there has not been a earlier subject with the field house owners. We’ll attempt to discover a answer,” Azcárraga Jean advised W Radio, which is owned by Televisa.

The main points of the Azteca reworking plans are unclear, however Ruano stated some field house owners exterior of his affiliation have agreed to launch their seats for the 2026 match in change for upgrades of their bins and different advantages.

“Each proprietor has the correct to see what’s finest for them,” he stated. “However that is not my case, I’ve the correct to be there, and no person can power me out. It could be like somebody forcing me out of my own residence.”