Box owners at Mexico’s iconic Azteca Stadium refuse to release their seats for the 2026 World Cup

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Roberto Ruano has a luxury box at Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium where he and his family can watch soccer games and other events in privacy and comfort.

He’s not planning to give that up for the 2026 World Cup.

When the stadium is handed over to FIFA for the tournament co-hosted by Mexico and the United States, Ruano expects the world soccer body to respect a deal dating from the stadium’s construction six decades ago that gave box owners unlimited access to their seats for 99 years.

“We’ve already paid for the right to be there when we purchased the title and there can be no restrictions for us,” says Ruano, 61, the spokesman of an association of 134 box owners. “We have a title to support us. It’s not up for debate.”

It’s unclear whether the stadium owner and FIFA see it that way.

FIFA wants full control of the World Cup stadiums 30 days before the first match and seven days after the last. But the peculiar history of how the boxes were purchased at Azteca makes things complicated.

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