FIFA pulls Toronto World Cup resale tickets after Ontario bans markups

FIFA has pulled Toronto World Cup resale tickets from its official marketplace after Ontario outlawed resale markups above face value, a sharp clash between a global sports business and a local consumer-protection law.

Ontario’s Bill 94, the Putting Fans First Act, amended the province’s Ticket Sales Act and says a ticket cannot be listed or sold on the secondary market for more than its face value. The law also reaches websites and apps that facilitate above-face-value resales. Provincial officials said the cap is meant to curb inflated resale prices and other practices that hurt fans and consumers.

The change matters because FIFA had built its own resale and exchange marketplace as the official channel for 2026 World Cup tickets. The platform opened on Oct. 2, 2025, and FIFA says tickets can be listed there until one hour before kickoff. It also says resale costs can vary by host country and may be affected by local law. After Ontario moved ahead with the cap, FIFA removed Toronto matches from the marketplace, while tickets for the other 15 host venues remained available.

Toronto Stadium, also known as BMO Field, is scheduled to stage six matches in 2026, including Canada’s opening World Cup game on Friday, June 12, against the winner of European playoff A, which could be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland or Wales. For Toronto, the issue is not abstract. It is about whether a host city can force affordability rules onto a tournament that usually controls its own ticketing terms.

The dispute lands as demand for the 2026 tournament is already surging. The World Cup will be the first men’s tournament hosted by three countries, with 48 teams and 104 matches across 16 host cities. FIFA said it received five million ticket requests in 24 hours during a December 2025 sales phase. It has also said more than five million tickets had already been sold out of just over six million expected for the tournament.

That demand has fueled backlash over pricing and resale behavior. Recent reporting on FIFA’s resale site showed some final tickets listed at about $2.3 million each, a figure that has sharpened criticism of speculative markups. FIFA has defended its resale system as a not-for-profit mechanism that channels revenue back into global football development.

Toronto is now the clearest test case for whether a host jurisdiction can impose consumer rules on FIFA’s ticketing model. FIFA expects the Toronto resale tickets to be relisted in a form that complies with Ontario law, turning one city into a template for how local politics can shape access to a global event.