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Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate. The governing body allocates 8% of tickets to national associations for games involving their team to sell to the most loyal fans. And a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680. Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA's claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games. Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described the current prices as extortionate. This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is, it said in a statement. The English Football ...
FIFA President Gianni Infantino says that two incidents of alleged racist abuse which marred German Cup games are unacceptable as German police investigate. Infantino's comments came a day after Schalke's Christopher Antwi-Adjei said he was subjected to racist abuse in a cup game at Lokomotive Leipzig. He was whistled by fans throughout the match after reporting the incident to officials. In another incident, a Kaiserslautern substitute was racially abused while warming up in a game at RSV Eintracht, the team's coach said. He didn't name the player affected. Both incidents occurred as lower-league clubs from the former East Germany hosted larger teams in first-round games. It is unacceptable that incidents have occurred at two DFB-Pokal matches in Germany," Infantino wrote on social media, using the German name for the competition. Football has no place for racism or any form of discrimination. Infantino said FIFA's Players' Voice Panel would be in touch with the German soccer ...
The European Union's top court ruled Friday that some decisions by international governing bodies, such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, can be challenged outside Switzerland, opening up a system that currently binds athletes, officials and clubs to accept verdicts there. A statement from the European Court of Justice said that tribunals in the 27 EU member states must be able to carry out an in-depth review of those awards for consistency with the fundamental rules of EU law. The ECJ ruling in Luxembourg means that EU national courts should be able to review verdicts from the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. The awards made by the CAS must be amenable to effective judicial review," the statement said. It said that national courts or tribunals must be empowered to carry out ... an in-depth judicial review to ensure that CAS rulings "are consistent with EU public policy. CAS director general Matthieu
The global soccer players' union hit back at FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino, saying their autocratic style of leadership was harming the rights of its members. "Football needs responsible leadership, not emperors," the FIFPRO network said after a meeting of 58 national player unions responded to FIFA pursuing its agenda with unofficial player representatives. "It needs fewer autocratic monologues and more genuine, inclusive and transparent dialogue," the union added. FIFA announced two weeks ago it reached a consensus on key issues after Infantino hosted a group of mostly non-recognised officials in New York ahead of the Club World Cup final. The latest rift between soccer's governing body and its players' unions flared while the European Commission in Brussels is considering a formal complaint against FIFA. It was filed by FIFPRO's European division and national leagues in Europe against FIFA's style of governance and decision-making. FIFA denounced what it called Friday
FIFA cut standard ticket prices for the semifinal between Chelsea and Fluminense at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday to USD 13.40 from USD 473.90 earlier in the past week. FIFA has used dynamic pricing for the 63-game tournament. Standard ticket prices for Wednesday's semifinal between European champion Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in New Jersey start at USD 199.60. FIFA had dropped ticket prices to $11.15 for a quarterfinal in Orlando, Florida, between Fluminense and Al Hilal. and in Philadelphia between Chelsea and Palmeiras. The dramatic drop in prices was first reported by The Athletic. Many matches during the tournament have had sparse crowds. Real Madrid has been an exception, drawing at least 60,000 for all five of its matches, including 76,611 for its quarterfinal win Saturday over Borussia Dortmund in New Jersey.
The great Saudi Arabian soccer experiment is on full show at the Club World Cup. The oil-rich kingdom, which is spending billions of dollars to become a major player in the world's most popular sport, scored a big win on the field Monday when Al Hilal beat Premier League giant Manchester City 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. It was a seismic result in soccer terms; possibly the biggest upset of the tournament and precisely the type of statement Saudi Arabia has wanted to make since embarking on a project that will ultimately see it stage the World Cup in 2034. We wanted to show that Al Hilal has the talent, the power to be here, said defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who was among a slew of star players paid fortunes to leave Europe's top clubs for the Saudi Pro League in recent years. Superstar signings and ones that got away =========================== The biggest of them all was Cristiano Ronaldo, who completed one of the most stunning moves in soccer history when joining Al Nas