Soccer

Fifa investigating 6,000 empty seats at Uruguay v Egypt game

A crowd of 27,015 watched the Group A game in Ekaterinburg

A view of empty seats during the Group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
A view of empty seats during the Group A match between Egypt and Uruguay at the Ekaterinburg Arena. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
Fri Jun 15 2018 - 16:44

Fifa is investigating after thousands of seats were left unfilled for Uruguay's World Cup match against Egypt in Ekaterinburg.

Jose Gimenez proved Uruguay's saviour with a 90th-minute winner in a poor match played at a stadium which had more than 6,000 empty seats – nearly 20 per cent of the ground capacity.

A Fifa spokesman said: "We can confirm that the official attendance for the match between Egypt and Uruguay in Ekaterinburg is 27,015. The Fifa World Cup stadium capacity is 33,061.

“The fact that the actual attendance is lower than the number of allocated tickets can be due to different factors, including ‘no shows’ on match day, which Fifa is currently investigating.”