Germany players pay for fans to travel to game

Germany’s players will pay for 600 of the country’s fans to travel by bus to their final World Cup group game amid criticism of high transport costs at the tournament.

Train tickets, normally priced at $12.90 (£9.50) from central New York to the nearby Met Life stadium in New Jersey, where Germany will play Ecuador in the last Group E match on 25 June, were ramped up to $150 for the tournament before being reduced to $98.

Shuttle bus fares, initially priced at $80 to make a similar journey, have been dropped to $20. The New Jersey governor has said the inflated prices are because Fifa has refused to subsidise transport expenditure.

“In light of the high cost of bus and train travel in New York during the World Cup, the German national team players have organised free transport to the final group match for 600 fans,” said the German FA.

“Captain Joshua Kimmich and his team-mates are covering the cost of buses to take supporters from New York to the arena in New Jersey for the match against Ecuador.”

At the World Cups in Russia and Qatar there was free transport available for fans to use to get to games and fan zones. The US had committed to offer the same perk in its 2018 host agreement.

In a tweak to the agreement, made in 2023, it was decided that supporters would be charged to travel at cost value.