Toronto police arrested a soccer fan for holding up a “FIFA = Greed” sign
The 64-year-old retiree said he was protesting World Cup ticket prices
Plenty of soccer fans brought homemade signs to the city’s World Cup matches, but one is facing legal consequences over a message calling out FIFA ticket prices.
“I think I had the right to express my opinion. It wasn’t vulgar. It was peaceful. It wasn’t inciting any violence,” Jan Maracewicz told CTV News Toronto in an interview after being arrested and charged with trespassing. His sign had featured the words “FIFA = Greed” in blue lettering.
“This is a game that has been loved by the whole world for gosh, over a century,” Maracewicz continued. “It would always represent everyone. All of a sudden, you have the availability, accessibility, for only the people with money. The working class, the people with less money, retirees, and so on, so forth, who can also go to a game, but it costs them, let’s say, savings. They have to prioritize.”
Maracewicz told the outlet he had previously attended a 2022 World Cup game in Qatar, where he’d spent only $50 per ticket. In Toronto, reported CTV, tickets to Canada’s home-opener match were between $1,300 and $3,035.
Maracewicz said he held the sign up near Nathan Phillips Square, and near the FIFA Fan Festival entrance. When he later stood with the sign closer to Toronto Stadium, he said he was then approached by security.
Toronto police confirmed to CTV News that Maracewicz was indeed arrested and released on June 26, under the Trespass to Property Act, as the incident occurred at Exhibition Place, which is not public property. “Officers were acting under the authority of the property owner after the individual was directed to leave and refused to comply,” a police spokesperson told the outlet by email.
The charge of Trespass to Property—Entering and Engaging in Prohibited Activity comes with a $65 ticket. Maracewicz said he has filed a complaint with the police.
The 64-year-old retiree was far from the only person to criticize FIFA’s pricing and policies. When FIFA opted to ban reusable water bottles from its premises, Mayor Olivia Chow called it “a pure money grab.” Councillor Josh Matlow said hosting the World Cup at all was “horrible deal for our citizens.”
Related: FIFA copyright watchdogs be damned: Pizza Pizza is marketing its unofficial World Cup special
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
