IFK Norrköping's representative in Tunisia's World Cup squad looks sad when he says:
"Not many Tunisians can afford to go. In my view, it's so incredibly wrong. Football should be for everyone. Those are absurd prices," he says.
FIFA ticket prices are skyrocketing, the US authorities require a deposit from citizens of certain countries to issue entry permits, and there are added costs for travel and living in a championship held on another continent.
“Unreasonable”
For hundreds of thousands of supporters around the world, it is impossible to follow the World Cup in person this time.
Something that bothers Moutaz Neffati is the deposit requirement.
I think it's unreasonable to put such demands on people whose only desire is to watch football. Without talking too much politics, I just think that football should be for everyone and everyone should actually have the right to watch football.
In May, the US relaxed the requirements for Tunisia, among other countries. If you have a match ticket, a deposit of up to approximately SEK 140,000 is no longer required to obtain a visa. The crux is that ticket purchases must have been registered by April 14th.
“Very expensive”
Neffati does not know how many Tunisians will attend the opening match against Sweden in Monterrey on June 15.
But I know that many people don't have that opportunity in Tunisia. It's very expensive for many Swedes too, to get there and then to Dallas and then to Houston.
He hopes his girlfriend will watch the match against Sweden in person, but his mother, father and brothers are staying home.
Moutaz Neffati believes that the World Cup will instead be a celebration on home soil, in Tunis as in Norrköping.
It creates a community in a country, but at the same time it's a completely different feeling to be there, supporting the country, and that's the thing I still miss.
Potter regrets
Swedish national team captain Graham Potter regrets that top football now excludes many for economic reasons.
"Football, and the World Cup in particular, is an opportunity for people to celebrate, for families to come together. I have no knowledge of FIFA's finances or why they make these decisions, but from a human perspective... when I think about my dad and mum, they couldn't take us (me and my brother Andrew) to a game today. It costs too much," Potter said.
