Match ticket prices continue to vary greatly

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There are no rules laid down anywhere about how much a ticket to see a live football match should cost. It’s one of those ‘whatever the market will bear’ situations, and football clubs always need more money than they’ve got, so it is only to be expected that ticket prices will be as high as the management can set them and still get a sizeable, if not sell out, crowd.

Football fans are a special breed of the species; they have priorities of course, and at the top of those is seeing their team win an exciting and hard-fought match. It just doesn’t get any better than that – as long as they’re seeing this spectacle from a spot in the stadium. TV coverage is great and all, but it’s just not the same as being there. A lot of them are willing to pay the price, but apparently there are limits.

Last week’s events made it clear that maybe the limit on ticket prices is not the sky; maybe it lies somewhere underneath that supposedly limitless height. When Manchester City returned a third of its allocation for the match with Arsenal on Sunday, 912 tickets priced at £62 per, it may have precipitated a groundswell for a change in the rules.

Currently Premier League rules are that ticket prices must be the same for fans from away as they are for the locals. There is quite a controversy on the issue, with the argument that fans dedicated enough to make the journey at their own expense should not be further burdened with higher ticket prices. It’s a fact that without rival fans in the stadium, the levels of tension and excitement are noticeably reduced.

The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) is reportedly working with Supporters Direct, which is representative of rival football fans, to lobby for a price cap of £20 to £25 for away games. FSF president Malcolm Clarke said they would be launching a campaign in the next few weeks aimed at placing a maximum on the amount charged; he said fans have had just about enough.

FC Metalist sold by Yaroslavskiy for $300m

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Aleksander Yaroslavskiy is one of the Ukraine’s most influential businessman and was the main investor in the Euro 2013 contest. He is also the owner if the DCH Group and football club FC Metalist, and his announcement that he has sold the latter has sent shockwaves throughout Russian football. Neither the new investor nor the price paid was initially disclosed, but Forbes have estimated it as approximately $300m.

During the 7 years in which Yaroslavskiy was the president of FC Metalist, the club experienced the brightest stage of development in its entire 85-year history. The businessman has invested more than $ 570 million in the development of Kharkiv football and preparation of the city for Euro 2012.

Formerly 173th place in the UEFA club ranking, FC Metalist now consistently ranks among the top 30 clubs in Europe. Over the past six seasons the team won Ukrainian championship bronze medals six times. In 2007, after a 20-year break, Metalist returned to the European Cup arena: the UEFA Cup first, then Europa League, with victories over Bayer, Sochaux”, “Austria”, “Sporting”, Sampdoria, Debrecen, Besiktas, Galatasaray, and Olympiakos.

This season, the Kharkiv team also excelled with “the goal of the century” scored by Taison, and, as a result, UEFA has added Metalist`s striker to the symbolic European team. In addition, thanks to Yaroslavskiy, the Kharkiv club now has a training camp which, according to football experts, is comparable to the infrastructure of Barcelona and Bayern. And Kharkiv no longer needs to give its young football talents to other clubs – thousands of children are able to train in the academy of Metalist.

At home games the team enjoys the support of full stands, and, thanks to Euro 2012, Kharkiv fans were able to witness matches between the strongest teams in Europe, and with the brightest football stars, such as Michel Platini, or Cristiano Ronaldo, in their native city.

In his statement Yaroslavskiy named the reason for the sale of FC Metalist: “There is only one (and this is the main one) reason why I have to leave the club: The confusing claims of the city government on me as the investor and as a result, an unprecedented psychological pressure exerted on the team and staff. This unhealthy atmosphere threatens all that was created by hard work of many people.” So politically correctly the businessman referred to pressure to transfer the Metalist stadium – the home arena of the club, built for Euro 2012 under the direction of Yaroslavskiy in the format of public-private partnerships (30% of the investments from Yaroslavskiy, 50% from the state budget, and 20% from local budgets of Kharkiv city and Kharkiv region) – to municipal ownership.

Kharkiv journalists found out that the object was built for the money of the president of FC “Metalist”, which the state then gradually and with long delays was compensating. In turn, Gennadiy Kernes is also known for trying to cut popular Gorky Park under the pretext of preparing for Euro 2012, sparking violent protests of the “green”. And for the purchase of overpriced benches for Kharkiv subway and several other controversial decisions.

At the same time, in his farewell letter, Aleksander Yaroslavskiy wrote: “I do not leave Metalist to fend for themselves, I act in their interests. The change in the investor eliminates the personal factor while preserving the source of funding of the club.” In an interview to Forbes, he said: “This is not the first attack to me and to the club, these things had been happening for a long time.

The question is not just me. There is a team, there is the head coach, the administration. I can not always breathe courage and bravery in people. I am sure for myself, I am a self-sufficient person, and the players do not understand how this can happen. Many of them are foreigners. For them, things like that are just wild…. So I found a sponsor who will fund the club.”

The new owner of FC Metalist is the non-public young Kharkiv lawyer and businessman, 27-year-old Sergii Kurchenko. In his inaugural statement, he announced ambitious goals for the club, but his meeting with the head coach of Metalist, Myron Markevych, has not yet taken place.

 

Mancini plays down training ruckus with Balotelli

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Roberto Mancini and Mario Balotelli have figured in a physical scuffle at their training facility in Manchester and the confrontation may have been the result of a tackle on teammate Scott Sinclair that the striker considered uncalled for. The clash between striker and manager was witnessed by the whole team which was preparing for its third round game against Watford.

A reliable witness told how Balotelli strongly reacted to being chided by the manager for a bad play to which the manager reacted even more strongly. The source added that a furious Mancini grabbed Balotelli and tried to topple him down the floor which he failed to do, the latter being much stronger than he was. Players and coaches tried to pacify the two, but Mancini was adamant and again and again he tried to break free trying to get to Balotelli. In the end cooler heads prevailed.

After the commotion died down, the witness stated that Balotelli went to the dressing room after which he drove away from the place, driving a luxurious Bentley. He stopped at the gates though for fans that were waiting for autographs.

In the past, there were plenty speculation about the future of Balotelli with the Manchester City team and this incident is sure to trigger a fresh round, although Mancini has resisted the idea of selling the striker during the January transfer windows.

Last month Mancini told the sports gazette Gazzetta dello Sport, that Mario will stay with the team, but for how long depends on Mario. He added further that his relationship with the player has always been good even when there are times when he does something unsettling.

 

Italian football game cut short after racism incident

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A football game that was held last Thursday in Busto Arsizio had to be stopped. The game involved the teams Milan and Pro Patria and it was cut off in less than 30 minutes because the crowd started harassing and chanting racist remarks against the player Kevin-Prince Boateng, who belongs to the Milan team. The player didn’t take it well and he reacted negatively by kicking the ball to the crowd.

A representative from the other team, Dario Alberto Polverini, pleaded with Boateng to stay but apparently Boateng didn’t heed him as he proceeded to walk off the pitch along with his team members. Among those who walked out was Massimo Ambrosini, who is the captain of the team. Boateng wasn’t the only one targeted as other players namely Urby Emanuelson, M’Baye Niang and Sulley Muntari were also verbally abused by the crowd.

Boateng sounded off in Twitter saying that he was disappointed that such a thing happened. Massimilano Allegri, who was the coach of Team Milan, told the paper, Gazetta dello Sport that he was also disappointed at what happened. However, he respected his black players and considered walking out of the game as the right thing to do.

He later apologised for his team’s actions but he said that this was the only way for them to send a clear message against racism but he did, however, promise that they would have another try at the game. Ambrosini mentioned to the paper that from the moment the game started, he was very disappointed and annoyed with the crowd.

His intention was to give a clear message that they just couldn’t proceed with such a negative atmosphere. There were many who lauded Boateng’s actions particularly the anti-racist organisations. One such prominent anti-racist organisation, FARE, through their executive director, Piara Powar, called for further action from the Italian Football Association regarding the incident.

 

 

How a premiership manager tries to win over the fans

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If there were no fans, there would be no football, or certainly not football as we know it today. When you get right down to it, fans are the life blood of any team, and not just because they buy tickets. They can and do influence the way players, coaches, managers and owners behave and perform. However, sometimes you just have to outlast them, as Rafael Benitez is determined to do.

The Chelsea interim coach has faced considerable disapproval since he was brought in to replace Roberto di Matteo, with booing spectators saying his approach is too defensive, especially after the first two Premier League games where the score was a draw at 0-0. Then when Chelsea lost out on the World Cup Final in Japan, the level of disapprobation rose even higher.

However, the team came back and took five goals from Leeds in the Capital One Cup, then went on to a rousing eight-goal win against Aston Villa. They headed to Norwich City on Wednesday and came away with a 1-0 win, and Benitez says that he’s confident the streak will continue. At present Chelsea remains at third place in the Premier League, but if they continue playing as they have been, he says, they’ve got a good shot at the championship.

Disgruntled fans are having to revise their opinions, and Benitez says they’ll come to see that he’s a professional with the best interest of players and fans at the heart of his strategy. It’s his job, he said, to get the best out of his players, and if he can do that, the team will keep on winning matches and fans will have nothing to complain about.