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Post by Macmoish on Feb 18, 2011 7:36:20 GMT
The Guardian/Daniel Taylor Rooney and Kaká join Manchester City – but that's not official • Aris Thessaloniki embarrassed at spoof picture in programme • Greek club pulp publication after City point out error The expanded Manchester City squad, featuring extra superstar players and 'Where's Wally?', that was in Aris Thessaloniki's programme. Photograph: Public domain Wine glasses were clinked, bread was broken and palms squeezed. It was an opportunity for new contacts and new friendships as dignitaries from Manchester City and Aris Thessaloniki settled down for a pre-match function ahead of Tuesday's Europa League tie in Greece. Then an Aris official offered Garry Cook a sneak preview of the match programme and it was then, as City's chief executive did a double-take, that it became apparent something was wrong. Instead of using the official City team photograph the Greek club used a doctored version, with another five rows added to make room for just about every superstar footballer on the planet. Wayne Rooney, Kaká and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could all be seen, resplendent in blue. Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Mesut Ozil were also to be found. It was a 60-man squad, more in keeping with the album cover for The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The City delegation made it clear to their hosts they could see the funny side. But the Aris directors were so embarrassed they decided on the spot that the programme had to be pulped, regardless of the costs. Aris have since explained that the editorial team, searching the internet for a photograph of the City squad, had instead located a 'Where's Wally?' spoof picture which first appeared as a Gallery entry on the Guardian's website and did not realise the difference. 'Wally' can be found between Joe Hart and James Milner – just in front of Ibrahimovic. The programme in question is now on the way to becoming a collector's item, with a handful getting into circulation before the message got out. One has already been made available on eBay – for £35. www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/17/rooney-kaka-manchester-city-aris-programme
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Post by Macmoish on Feb 18, 2011 7:37:57 GMT
Guardian/Owen Gibson
Fans furious at ticket prices for Champions League final at Wembley • Cost of seats for neutrals ranges from £176 to £326 • Uefa's prices condemned as 'absolutely outrageous' Uefa has been accused of exploiting supporters as it emerged that tickets for this season's Champions League final at Wembley on 28 May would be the most expensive ever with the cheapest on general sale costing £176 each, including a booking fee. Some 11,000 tickets will go on sale to the general public costing £300, £225 and £150 plus a £26 "administration fee". An allocation of 50,000 tickets which will be reserved for fans of the two finalists will include "category four" tickets at £80 each, according to Uefa but the Football Supporters Federation condemned the prices as too high. "These prices are absolutely outrageous and take ticket pricing to an absurdly stratospheric new level," said the FSF chairman Malcolm Clarke. "In a difficult economic climate, not only in this country but across Europe, where supporters may be coming from, this represents disgraceful exploitation of fans." The details of the ticket prices dampened the euphoria in England during a week in which both Tottenham and Arsenal scored significant victories in the Champions League over Milan and Barcelona, raising hopes that a Premier League club could reach this year's Wembley final. The cost of Champions League final tickets has rocketed since Manchester United played Barcelona in Rome 2009. The category three tickets have almost doubled since then, when they cost £80. The new ticket prices represent an increase of around 15% in each category on those for last year's final between Internazionale and Bayern Munich in Madrid. The Uefa director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti insisted the prices were based on the market rate and compared with those for the World Cup final. "The prices are based on the type of event and when you compare it to other events we don't think that the Champions League final is overpriced," he said. "We do not want to squeeze every single penny out of the market." The Champions League final took place on a Saturday last year for the first time after the Uefa president, Michel Platini, said he wanted to attract more children to the match. "That's also why we put some tickets from children at a discounted price," said Marchetti, though the 500 packages on offer for one adult and one child are only available in category two and will cost £338. "That's a 50% discount for the child," Marchetti added. The £26 administration fee per two-ticket booking was justified because there were "costs involved" he said. Marchetti added: "This is the market price. Do you think we would have trouble filling Wembley if the prices were higher? Do you think it would be different? We try to strike a balance between the interest of supporters and the interest of the event. Why should we prices the tickets lower than what we think is a fair level?" But the ticket prices compare unfavourably with the cheapest tickets for last year's World Cup final in South Africa which cost £106 and next year's Olympics where seats are available for the 100m final night at £100. A centre-court ticket for the men's final day at Wimbledon last year cost £104. Clarke added: "To ask fans to fork out between £150 and £300 for a single match ticket is outrageous and strikes as profiteering at the supporters' expense. That's before we even get started on the £26 administration fee which is the cherry on top of a pretty disgusting cake. Uefa should be ashamed of themselves and there is no way of justifying such a high fee. It is totally unacceptable whatever country the supporters are from but it will be particularly harsh on fans coming from abroad who have to add travel costs." www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/18/ticket-prices-champions-league-final-wembley
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Post by Macmoish on Feb 18, 2011 7:41:09 GMT
INDEPENDENT/Ian Herbert
Uefa attacked over £176 ticket for European final
'Disgusting' Wembley prices make mockery of claim game is 'more accessible' Uefa was last night asked to justify making this season's Champions League final at Wembley the most expensive ever, with cheapest prices of £150 plus a £26 administration fee making a mockery of president Michel Platini's claims that the event is being made more accessible to children. The cost of the cheapest general release tickets for the event has almost doubled since the Rome final of 2009, when they cost £80, and is more than three times the £50 minimum for a seat at the 100m finals night at London 2012's new Olympic Stadium – an event lasting over three hours, which also includes long jump and 10,000m finals and 100m semi-finals. The Football Supporters' Federation described the prices, published in a week when the performances of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the last 32 of the competition have enthralled millions of young fans, as "absolutely disgusting, particularly in a time of economic difficulty" and an example of "profiteering at the supporters' expense". Though Platini said when Uefa switched the final to Saturday last year that the aim was "to give families, especially children, the chance to see the game", the only concessions for those children who cannot get tickets through the finalists' allocations come through the £338 "youth package" ticket – for one adult and one child. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport indicated last night that sports minister Hugh Robertson would not be immediately commenting. Related articles England's Xavi? Wilshere shows Capello he needs freedom to shine Barça confident Wenger's refusal 'to park bus' will see Arsenal crash out James Lawton: Barça the best, Mr Wenger? They lack the edge of Milan '89 and the flair of Brazil '70 Search the news archive for more stories While a total of 11,000 tickets will be available on general sale at a category 1 price of £300, category 2 (£225) and category 3 (£150), with wheelchair entry costing £80, the removal of a category 4 price of £79, which was available in Madrid last year, has doubled the minimum ticket price. A certain number of £80 tickets will be available among the 25,000 allocated to each club in the final. The explanations offered for the price hike were contradictory, last night. A Uefa spokesman said: "The prices have gone up but it's London and London is expensive." Uefa's director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti said the prices were in line with comparable events such as the World Cup final or European Championship final. Yet the cheapest ticket at last July's World Cup final was £106 and these prices will put the event out of reach of many supporters seeking to enjoy London's hosting of the event on 28 May. A five-day ticket for the Adelaide Ashes Test this winter cost £100. A County Stand seat for the Grand National was £80. A Wimbledon Centre Court ticket for the men's final was £104. Marchetti insisted at the ticket launch at London's City Hall: "The prices are based on the type of event and when you compare it to other events we don't think that the Champions League final is overpriced. We do not want to squeeze every single penny out of the market. We have to benchmark this event against other comparable events." But Marchetti faced particularly hostile questioning about the administration fee and the cost of "youth packages". Platini's intent to encourage more children had prompted "some tickets from children at a discounted price," Marchetti said. But Uefa has made the adult-and-child package available only in the £225 category two. "A total of £338 is the cost of a family holiday for some people," said FSF chairman Malclom Clarke. "How many families can reasonably be expected to pay out for that?" The £26 administration fee per two-ticket booking – or £36 outside of Europe – may be the source of most antagonism to fans. It was "the cherry on the top of a rather disgusting cake," Clarke added. Marchetti said the fee was justified because there were "costs involved". Asked about the administration fee for the Uefa's women's Champions League final at Craven Cottage on 26 May – where tickets cost just £5 – he replied: "That is a nasty question. I hope you don't think the men's final and women's final have the same target of people. We are not making a profit, we have different targets and objectives for the women's final." www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/uefa-attacked-over-163176-ticket-for-european-final-2218175.html
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Post by isleworthranger on Feb 18, 2011 8:09:04 GMT
Disgraceful isnt it but I suppose it should be pointed out that these prices apply for neutrals who want to apply though the ballot system for tickets of which I think there are 11,000 available
The two clubs involved will get their own allocation to distribute to their fans so hopefully they will be a more reasonable price
I usually apply for ballot tickets each year for both UEFA Final and Champions League Final tickets and have been pretty successful in the past but I might have second thoughts about doing so this season
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Post by cpr on Feb 18, 2011 8:39:23 GMT
Funny that these prices are announced a couple of days after UEFA proudly announced ticket prices ranging between £25 and £40 for the Euros. I wonder if the venue has anything to do with it!
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Post by isleworthranger on Feb 18, 2011 9:15:17 GMT
Funny that these prices are announced a couple of days after UEFA proudly announced ticket prices ranging between £25 and £40 for the Euros. I wonder if the venue has anything to do with it! That is the price for the locals CPR and are exclusive Cat 3 tickets The prices for us (if we qualify) are a lot more and the follow my team tickets work out at about £800 for the first round games and the knock out stages
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Post by Jon Doeman on Feb 18, 2011 12:23:44 GMT
The £150 is like a right hook to deck you, and the £26 admin is like kick in the nuts to rub it in! How can they justify that?
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Post by Lonegunmen on Feb 18, 2011 21:49:55 GMT
26 quid for handing over a ticket - a fool and his money are easily parted. Actually fans from both sides as well as the neutrals should refuse to buy any tickets asa sign of a big F*** YOU to Uefa. But they wont. They take out a big loan to watch a drab 0-0 draw as both side cancel each other out and at the end of the day when th loan needs to be repaid, they'll reflect on how they were mugged, but hey, I was there! Fools.
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