B.C. couple misses World Cup match after StubHub purchase

A couple who planned to celebrate by taking in a match at BC Place found out at the last minute they didn’t actually have tickets.

In the Ali household, it’s been all World Cup, all the time. The Surrey, B.C., couple is often glued to the TV during FIFA’s marquee tournament.

But as good as the matches are on TV, Mohammed Ali and his wife Afreen Kothiwala decided to buy tickets and take in the real thing. The pricey purchase was a treat to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

They found a pair on StubHub for Sunday’s match between New Zealand and Egypt at BC Place for $1,106, or $450 each before fees.

The couple has a soft spot for Muslim countries participating in the tournament, and Ali has family living in New Zealand—so the match ticked both the personal and financial boxes.

The chance to watch Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah, who starred for English giants Liverpool F.C. in recent years, was the cherry on top.

Stuck outside stadium

But as kickoff approached, the tickets were not transferred into the official FIFA ticket app as promised.

At first, the couple says StubHub told them it was a payment issue. Then, that the tickets were sent but no transfer was received.

Ali, an avid soccer fan who played the game at a high level who is now a local youth coach, had wanted to arrive early to take in the team warmups and national anthems.

But as they waited outside the stadium, the frustration and anxiety worsened as they watched other fans walk through the gates into the stadium.

They said they soon realized they weren’t alone.

“We saw many people kind of sitting and gathering around where we were gathering—right outside the gates. We kind of looked and saw that they were going through the same emails or talking on the phone with StubHub,” noted Ali.

‘Once in a lifetime opportunity’

The company offered a refund and the couple’s pleas for tickets to a different World Cup match appeared to be going unanswered.

“When they said they were going to refund us, we just felt like, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we don’t want the refund—we want to go to this game,” said Ali.

Part of the problem, Ali said, is that a refund wouldn’t necessarily mean they would be able to have the experience they were so looking forward to—given that ticket prices for the remaining matches were more expensive than what they had paid.

StubHub responds

StubHub claims FIFA’s app, which it says was launched only a month ago, as well as the soccer body’s ticketing infrastructure, are at the root of the problems.

“The issues fans have experienced at this World Cup are largely driven by performance problems with the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure, which has created transfer failures across all resale platforms,” StubHub told CTV News in a statement.

“Every StubHub order is backed by our FanProtect Guarantee, so when ticket transfer is interrupted, we work to find a comparable replacement ticket or issue a full refund.”

Surprise happy ending

While the couple says StubHub would only initially offer a refund, following inquiries by CTV News, the company offered Ali and Kothiwala tickets to a future match.

The couple have accepted that offer and are set to go to Canada’s crucial match against Switzerland at BC Place on Wednesday.