FEW PEOPLE
Images of empty seats in the stadium during a match against Uruguay went viral on social media
Published on November 20, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Empty chairs at Fonte Nova Credit: Gabriel Rodrigues/CORREIO
The 1-1 draw between Brazil and Uruguay, in the South American World Cup qualifiers, was marked by an emptiness at Arena Fonte Nova. Officially, the audience was 41,511, with a capacity of 49 thousand fans. But the feeling was of a stadium with many free seats. The images soon went viral on social media and caused outrage in the CBF.
According to the UOL website, the entity decided to take over selling tickets for the Seleção’s next matches. It is worth mentioning that, for the duel in Salvador, the high value of the tickets was pointed out as one of the main factors for the emptying of Fonte Nova. The eastern intermediate sector, one of those with the most free seats during the match, was charged R$600 (full) and R$300 (half). Prices reached up to R$800.
The CBF’s plan is, from now on, to hold Brazil’s games only in stadiums where the confederation has autonomy to define the pricing policy.
According to UOL, the values for the game in the capital of Bahia would have been defined by the administrator of Fonte Nova, Fonte Nova Negócios e Participações (FNP), together with the CBF. The stadium managers decided the values, but the entity would have endorsed the price. On the other hand, the confederation would have requested a more popular sector, with a solidarity ticket costing R$100 and food collection to be donated. This area was the one that, visually, seemed to have the greatest crowding.
With so many empty spaces, the CBF decided that it will decide ticket prices alone. Therefore, from now on, he will only accept playing in stadiums where he can have complete autonomy over ticket prices.
It is also worth mentioning that, in addition to the tickets, the fan who went to Fonte Nova was shocked by the high price charged for parking at the stadium, which had a single price of R$100.
Brazil had not played in Salvador since 2019. The last match was 0-0 against Venezuela, during the 2019 Copa América. The clash with Uruguay marked the Seleção’s farewell to the 2024 season.
