Maya Handa, World Cup Czar: Welcome everybody, welcome. My name is Maya Handa, the New York City World Cup Czar and we are so grateful to welcome everyone here today, including our fantastic mayor; our CEO of our host committee, Alex Lasry; Tim Weah; Mark McKenzie; CM Yusef Salaam; CM Selvena Powers; and so many others. From the first conversations that we had after I came on board, the mayor has been pushing for ways to make the World Cup more affordable to all New Yorkers.
Understanding deeply, as a soccer fan himself, how important it is to be able to experience the joy of the crowd, the group celebrations and the historic nature of the greatest sporting event in the world. This is a really exciting day, and I'm thrilled to introduce the mayor, who has been fighting for a more affordable city, [not only] for our rents and groceries, but also so we can afford the things we love. Please welcome Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. What a delight it is to be here together in Harlem, surrounded by so many soccer [and] football fans of the "world's game," as we make an enormously exciting announcement. And I want to echo our World Cup czar, Maya Handa's acknowledgments of the CEO of FIFA World Cup 2026 New York-New Jersey host committee, Alex Lasry, who's here with us. We have our World Cup czar who has been intrepid in her fight for the fulfilling of a vision of this tournament that would match the magic that we know it can create. And I want to acknowledge also New York's very own Tim Weah, who's here with us. It is such a pleasure to have you; truly, truly a star, not just in this city, not just in the country, but in the world and to be here with you. It is just such an example of what we want this tournament to be for New Yorkers.
I'm proud to also be here with our City Councilman of this district, City Council Member Yusef Salaam. Our City Council member all the way from Southeast Queens, Selvena Brooks-Powers. And I want to also acknowledge the leaders who are standing alongside us, who are here with us, who are both leaders in our own administration, but also leaders across the city who have been organizing for the city we deserve [and] building the city, we deserve. And also, many of whom represent the African excellence in this city that we deserve. With that, we also want to acknowledge Harlem Tavern for hosting us here today. It's truly a pleasure. And I have to say, as someone who grew up not too far from here, it's lovely to be back at Harlem Tavern. I used to come here to watch soccer sometimes. Now it's great to actually be here to talk about it with all of you.
And, you know, as I've gone through everyone that we're acknowledging, I just want to take an extra moment about Tim Weah, who's here with us, who is someone who cares deeply about making the World Cup more affordable and someone who has given a platform to what so many have been talking and thinking about across the city and across this country. And I want you to know that everybody here in this city is going to be cheering for you in this tournament. We are so excited, truly.
Now, when talking about a World Cup that's only 21 days away, it feels only right that we stand here today in Little Senegal. And we know that if any of the teams are coming to this World Cup with a point to prove from the African continent, we know the Lions of Teranga are right there up there. And I've been told this many times, [but] I have no idea what it means, but "Senegal Rekk." I pray that is appropriate to have said in this setting. Now I want to recognize all the fans of the West African nations who have qualified. I want to give it up for Côte d'Ivoire, who have qualified for this; for Ghana; for Senegal; last but not least, for Cape Verde. This will be the first World Cup that the Blue Sharks compete in, one of the smallest and least populated nations to qualify for the tournament.
And as I think about the journey ahead for Cape Verde [is] the magic that every New Yorker with Cape Verdean roots will feel, I cannot help but think back to memories of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, where Senegal was participating in their first tournament. And I was 10 years old at the time, and I remember it as the first time that my father let me be late to school. Because we know that on-time attendance did not stand a chance against Pan-Africanism. And when I remember that tournament, what comes to mind to me is not Brazil lifting the trophy or Ronaldo's incredible haircut as he did so. It was the goal that Papa Bouba Diop scored against France in that opening game. It was Fabien Barthez scrambling to try and keep the ball out but not being able to.
And above all, it was the deafening roar that came from the Seoul World Cup Stadium. That stadium was full of fans, fans who had saved up to travel from Senegal and from France to support their teams. Working-class fans from Seoul who could afford to buy a ticket to the match. The cost of a category three ticket to that match was 150,000 won, or about $120. Not cheap, but within reach for a special occasion. And yet as we prepare to host the World Cup right outside of New York City, we know that ticket prices for this tournament have soared into the thousands of dollars. There are countless New Yorkers desperate to attend the World Cup match, who simply cannot afford to go. Many of them have somehow found my number and asked me if I can help them with Morocco [vs.] Brazil. There's nothing individually I can do for you, brother, but we are here to talk about something that we're proud to do together. Because last year, I said that we would change that. I said we had to make it cheaper for New Yorkers to attend these matches.
And today, I'm so proud to stand here alongside so many leaders in our city and in our region. To make it clear that we are doing exactly that. We are making sure that working people will not be priced out of the game that they helped to create. And that is why we stand together today to say that we have partnered with the New York-New Jersey Host Committee to secure 1,000 affordable tickets for New Yorkers to the World Cup. These 1,000 tickets are going to be split into batches of 150 tickets for each of the five group stage matches and two knockout round matches in New York-New Jersey, and tickets will cost only $50 bucks. To put that into perspective, that is five lattes in New York City.
And since it is not just ticket costs that make this tournament unaffordable, but the cost of travel as well, we will be providing free round-trip bus transportation to MetLife for those who get a ticket. I want everyone to understand your chance of getting these tickets is not impacted at all by who you know. We will be distributing these tickets through a lottery that opens this coming Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m. New Yorkers may enter once a day and will cap it at 50,000 entries per day. This will be over the course of a few days. Now, I know that Philly fans may try to crash this lottery and get revenge for home games that the Knicks won. But New York is actually a sports town, and we are giving our tickets to sports fans. So, we will verify eligibility using a variety of methods to make sure that only New Yorkers are purchasing these tickets.
We want to open the tournament to working people who couldn't otherwise afford it, not to scalpers. That's why we're making tickets non-transferable, and we'll dispense them directly to winners at the bus boarding location. Brazilian New Yorkers are going to sit next to Moroccan New Yorkers. Ecuadorian fans are going to try and convince their German counterparts that Piero Hincapié can defend Serge Gnabry.
Our city will watch together, celebrate together, shout at referees together, respectfully, and share this tournament together. We are the first host city to organize an initiative like this. City Hall's commitment to tackling the cost-of-living crisis isn't limited to making it easier to afford home or childcare. It extends to making it possible for every New Yorker to take part in the things that make us human. Rest, joy [and] celebrating the French conceding from crosses in the box. On June 16, we will see Senegal play France yet again, this time just across the Hudson River. This will be the first time [the] two teams have competed since that match in 2002.
Somewhere in the world, a 10-year-old will be watching. It will be the first football match they remember when they are older. And when they remember that match, they won't only remember the goals that are scored, the tackles that are made, the saves that felt impossible. They'll also remember how loud the stadium sounded, how people cheered together, jumped up and down together [and] shared the beautiful game together. They'll remember a sport that felt like it belonged to everyone and felt like it could also belong to them. That is what we are delivering today, my friends. Thank you so much.
