The German national team has taken matters into its own hands after prolonged ticket issues at the mundial, volunteering to support and cover travel costs for its fans.
The move Led by captain and Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich, the players acting through the team council decided to cover the travel costs to the game for some supporters heading to their third group-stage match against Ecuador on June 25 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
According to a report by Sky Sport, gathered by Truthlive news, the gesture came in direct response to the widely criticized transportation costs in the New York area, with NJ Transit initially charging $150 for a 30-minute round-trip train ride from Manhattan to the stadium before lowering it to $105 following a public outcry still considered an extraordinarily high sum compared to typical costs in Germany.
For a large portion of the approximately 4,000 German fans expected at the match, the national players, together with the German Football Association (DFB), have organized shuttle buses to transport supporters to the game.
The buses are available to members of the German national team fan club and will be allocated through a drawing.
An email with full details was sent out to fan club members, giving them the chance to enter the draw for a spot on one of the funded coaches. The move was widely praised on social media as a rare and generous act by elite players who earn millions annually.
The gesture comes at a time when fans across the globe have been vocal about the prohibitive costs of attending the expanded 48-team tournament. FIFA has faced intense criticism for ticket prices ranging from $140 for group-stage games to tens of thousands of dollars for hospitality packages at the final.
The German squad had already drawn praise earlier in the tournament for choosing to fly to the United States on a regular commercial flight rather than a private charter, sharing the plane with nearly 300 ordinary passengers an unusual move for an elite international side that quickly attracted positive attention on social media.
