FIFA charge £60 for World Cup final press conference place alongside Ferdinand

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World Cup

fans will be charged £60 a head to attend a press conference involving finalists Argentina and Spain, as well as

Manchester United

icon

Rio Ferdinand

. FIFA have linked up with the global sports retailer Fanatics, its commercial partner, to host a fan festival at the Javits Centre in New York City on Friday.

Hundreds of fans will be granted access to the press conference, which takes place two days before Sunday's final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. However, they will have to pay a hefty price to have the privilege of gaining access.

Ferdinand will be hosting the press conference event, which features an appearance from FIFA president Gianni Infantino as a 'special guest'. But rather than invite fans to the one-off event for free, FIFA will be cashing in by charging £60 per head.

A Fanatics advert read: "Fans will have the rare opportunity to see both finalists take the stage just days before the World Cup final, hearing directly from players and team representatives as they prepare for sport's biggest match. Special guests: Gianni Infantino and more coming soon."

Fans who want to commemorate the occasion with an official photograph alongside Ferdinand will be forced to shell out £100. While FIFA are handling the press conference itself, access will be granted to those who have paid for their Fanatics Fest ticket.

According to

The Times

, the American organisation said the entry fee covers numerous events across many different sports with athletes including LeBron James, Novak Djokovic, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, Sir

David Beckham

and others.

Ferdinand's growing influence within FIFA has not gone unnoticed. The 47-year-old was one of few former footballers to publicly back FIFA's approach to the Folarin Balogun ban controversy - though he did later admit it was the wrong decision - and hosted the World Cup draw for the expanded 48-team group stage back in December.

The ex-England international is one of dozens of former footballers who represents the

world

football governing body on a global stage. Like many past footballers, Ferdinand operates as a 'FIFA legend' in an ambassadorial-type role for promotional events similar to the Fanatics one.

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The chance to meet Ferdinand is not even the most expensive opportunity available for fans to purchase, though. The price varies based on which star athlete is featured in the photo, with a memento including former MLB star Alex Rodriguez costing a whopping £239 for a photo.

Ferdinand's absence from the pundit studio for both

BBC

and

ITV

has been noted, with the ex-England defender choosing to cover the tournament via his

YouTube

channel 'Rio Ferdinand Presents'. He also posted a social media video of himself celebrating England's opening goal in the 2-1 defeat to Argentina on Wednesday.

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.