Italy’s repechage to the World Cup: now Congo demands reimbursement
Another friction between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States just days before the start of the World Cup hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. The Ebola emergency had at first prompted the White House to demand that the Congolese selection be isolated in a bubble on pain of having their entry to America revoked, but the diplomatic case was resolved by FIFA, which assured the African team’s full health security.
The new clash, however, concerns fans: the Democratic Republic of Congo has asked FIFA to refund the cost of 2026 World Cup tickets purchased by fans who are now unable to enter the United States due to Ebola-related travel restrictions. The BBC reports. The Leopards are returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, but their supporters are unlikely to get visas to travel to the US. In fact, the United States has banned entry to non-Americans who have been in DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days. “We have asked FIFA if it is possible to consider this situation, because tickets are a bit expensive,” Veron Mosengo-Omba, president of the DR Congo Football Federation (Fecofa), told BBC Sport Africa. “They are being punished because they cannot enter the U.S. to watch the World Cup and support their team. We don’t want our fans, who love soccer and love the World Cup, to lose everything.”
Tickets are up to seven times more expensive than the 2022 tournament in Qatar because of FIFA’s dynamic pricing model. In response to Fecofa’s request, the World Federation told the BBC that it will “assess the issue in due course.” The world body’s standard policy is for tickets to be put up for resale or transferred to another person, rather than refunded, reserving the latter option for exceptional circumstances such as match cancellations. Congo’s second round match against Colombia will be played in Guadalajara, and most Congolese fans are now leaning toward diverting their travel plans to Mexico, the British channel also reports.
The restriction as mentioned does not affect the Congolese team: all 26 players in Sebastien Desabre’s selection and the entire technical staff are based out of the country or have already left the country to fulfill the 21-day quarantine requirement. The case had sparked rumors about a possible repechage of Italy or other eliminated national teams, similar to those about Iran’s situation.
