Next Thursday, September 7th, the Argentina national team will debut against Ecuador in the South American qualifiers for the next World Cup in 2026. The game starts at 21:00 and takes place in the most monumental stadium. For many years, it was the legendary home of River Plate and the national team. It was recently renovated to increase its capacity, which now seats 84,567.
While it looks like a normal playoff start, the truth is that the way multiple tickets were purchased for the game is new. On Wednesday, August 30th, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced a very noticeable and important project, not only for the moment but also for the near future: AFA ID. This platform offers a kind of connection with the selection through plans that include different benefits depending on the level acquired, such as paying a club fee, but with the national team. And in some cases, too much of a burden.
In the press conference before the start of the qualification, they asked Lionel Scaloni himself, the DT of the Selection, about the high ticket price. “I had to buy nine, so imagine…” he said. And he added: “Of course I pay them; how can I not pay them? I can show you the receipt later if you want.”
Scaloni said he spent “900,000 and something like that.”. “It’s hard for me, like everyone else. But I’m not the one who can fix the price of the tickets. If I had my way, I would let people go for free. What can I do? I can’t do anything about it,” concluded the coach.
The Bronze Age (silver and gold)
The project proposes three types of associations and three types of odds that offer different prices as well as different benefits and odds. The sale of tickets for local Scaleneta games continues on Deportick (www.deportick.com); however, a number of tickets will be reserved for users of AFA ID.
To join the association, you need to enter www.portal.afa.com.ar and register. Bronze, silver, and gold are the names of the three types of subscriptions: The package Bronze costs 24,000 pesos in a single payment and must be renewed annually. includes priority in the purchase of tickets (they are purchased separately; the value of the package does not include the ticket itself). These range from 19,000 pesos to 89,000 pesos (San Martin and Belgrano Media), as well as priority in the pre-sale of the new team jerseys, a digital card, participation in raffles of various kinds, and a newsletter with exclusive content. of the campus
Unlike the bronze package, Both the silver and gold plans are valid until 2026, and the cost exceeds one and a half million pesos. In the first case, the The Silver member costs a total of 1.9 million pesos And one of the great advantages is that all parties have a preferential audience that can be released in the event of non-participation and receive financial compensation. Another function is the Fast Pass, which means fast access to the stadium through exclusive access without the need for a physical ticket and only with the National Identity Document (DNI). The other difference from the previous partner is the priority, without guarantee and with limited places, to get access to tickets for the Copa America 2024 (which will happen in the United States) and the next World Cup. Includes the same benefits as Bronze (Newsletter, sweepstakes, and t-shirt priority), but in this case, On top of that comes the delivery of a physical silver card with a welcome pack.
To finish the Gold Member, the most expensive and controversial genre of this project, Has a cost of 4.9 million pesos (All these packages are for a single person; they do not include family members, and minors must also have one), and the big difference from the previous package is that this package offers a quota for the purchase of tickets for the next one and guarantees events of the Selection, tickets to be purchased within a limited timeframe that will be announced when there is less time left for the competitions. In addition, the Gold member has the same benefits as the Silver member, except that the Silver card is exchanged for a Gold card and little else.
This new project was also celebrated but was seen with very bad eyes by many people in the sporting environment, who branded the AFA as opportunistic for wanting to exploit the posterity euphoria to get more money. The truth is that while the plan aims to run for many more years, it does not exclude those who are not associated from being able to buy tickets to games or the World Cup; it merely puts a percentage of the tickets up for those who are able to do so and would like to stick to the plans.
Another goal of AFA with AFA ID is to make sure the vast majority of the fans in attendance are Argentines (or at least have the nationality), as the DNI is a mandatory requirement. Minors under the age of 16 may purchase the plans provided they have a statement from their father, mother, or legal guardian endorsing the purchase.
The goal is to create a kind of more real relationship between the fan and the team, which mostly happens between the fan and his team because of closeness and passion. The best way they found was to “pay the fee,” as is done in clubs across the country.
