REFORM peer Malcolm Offord has been accused of having "zero feel for the public" as he defended the extortionate price of tickets to go to the World Cup in the US.
Offord, who recently defected from the Scottish Tories to Nigel Farage's party, revealed on Question Time on Thursday he would be going to Miami for Scotland's final group match against Brazil.
It is understood tickets for the World Cup final for a seat in a "standard tier" are just over £4000.
Tickets to attend the first Scotland match against Haiti will be £134, £298 or £372, while tickets for the Morocco match are set as £163, £320 and £447.
The final group game against Brazil is priced at £198, £373 or £523.
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In a discussion about the prices and whether anything can be done about it, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn called it a "complete scam", while Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was "deliberate fleecing" from Fifa.
Findlay, who earlier in the episode locked horns with Offord over his defection, also called it "outrageous".
But Offord said he would be going to the Miami match and appeared to defend the prices.
"I'm going to go to Miami for the Brazil game, yeah," he said.
Offord briefly tried to then steer the conversation away from ticket prices by talking about how Scotland keep drawing Brazil in World Cups.
But Bruce made sure to ask him again about the subject, to which he then defended them by saying "it's a commercial venture".
He said: "The issue is this is a commercial venture and the reality is sport in America is very expensive. A ticket to the Super Bowl is $10,000 and people want to pay it.
"You're not going to get Fifa to change their mind."
According to BBC Sport, for the entire tournament through to the final, it will cost about £5225 for one person to go to all eight matches, up to £8580 in the mid-price range, or £12357 for the top tier.
On social media, National columnist Gerry Hassan criticised Offord for the comments.
"Appearing on #bbcqt he has ZERO feel for the public," he said. "He defended Fifa's extortionate ticket pricing in the World Cup & boasted he already has tickets. Doubt we will see him again as the public face of Reform in Scotland."
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Football fan Dave Irons added on Twitter/X: "Of course Lord Offord is off to the US to see the Scotland Brazil match as he’s happy to pay the exorbitant prices and pander to Fifa as he doesn’t give a toss about the ordinary football fan who couldn’t even dream of affording it."
Another user said: "Defending Fifa and boasting about his seat, which won’t be one of the cheap seats, when real fans are furious with Fifa shows the measure of the man."
Flynn explained during the show that fans are having to buy tickets in advance for rounds their team are not guaranteed to reach.
Flynn said he had enough points stacked up from going to Scotland matches to buy a ticket, but maintained it was a "scam".
"If Scotland get out of the group, which I think we might, then you have to reserve that ticket. No, you don't have to reserve it, you have to buy it in advance, and for the next round and for the next round" Flynn said.
"Fifa take your money, stick it in their bank account for months on end, for a game you might never go to, and then give it back to you less an administration fee.
"Fans are being fleeced for basic tickets, they are being fleeced for future rounds and it's incumbent upon our representatives in the FA in Scotland, in England, and hopefully in Wales and Northern Ireland if they can qualify as well, to get together with bodies right across the rest of the world and demand an end to this. It's not good enough."
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