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Anyone who was, or still is, planning to travel to the World Cup this summer, please get in touch via email or in the comments. Understandably there is a lot of anger over the ticket prices and Fifa’s general approach to this tournament and I would be very interested in getting your perspective.
Sean Ingle
Football Association to pass on fan anger over World Cup ticket prices
The Football Association will pass on England supporters’ concerns about high 2026 World Cup ticket prices to Fifa. However, despite the growing outrage, it is understood none of the international federations expect world football’s governing body to change its policy.
Anger among supporter groups continued on Friday after it emerged that the cheapest tickets will cost 10 times the price promised in the original bid for the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the tournament. For England fans it will mean having to pay at least $220 (£165) for group games – when the bid document’s ticket model stated the cheapest seats should be $21 (£15.70).
The cheapest tickets for the World Cup final will cost $4,185 (£3,120), more than 30 times higher than originally planned. And that is before travel costs and accommodation are factored in.
The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) described the prices being proposed to the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) as “scandalous” and said they were “a step too far for many supporters who passionately and loyally follow their national sides at home and abroad”. “Everything we feared about the direction in which Fifa wants to take the game was confirmed – Gianni Infantino only sees supporter loyalty as something to be exploited for profit,” the FSA added.
More on this story from Sean Ingle:
Will Unwin
Was Salah’s return the beginning of the end at Liverpool or start of an apology?
Mohamed Salah and Liverpool have put politics to shame by showing what a long week truly looks like. It ended with the Egyptian doing a one-man lap of honour at Anfield, an attempt to rebuild trust with the supporters after creating a ceasefire, if not a complete truce, with Arne Slot.
Over the past seven days a lot has changed, but one thing remained the same, Salah started a Premier League game on the bench, not that he needed to wait long for a chance to do his talking on the pitch. He would finish with an assist after playing 75 minutes against Brighton in a game in which he desperately wanted to score. Maybe his parade was the beginning of the end, but it felt more like the start of the apology that should continue after the Africa Cup of Nations, giving both parties space to breathe.
Will Unwin was also Anfield (where in addition to the latest episode of the Salah drama there was a football match), here are his thoughts in full on the saga of the Egyptian star:
Andy Hunter was at Anfield to see Liverpool beat Brighton 2-0 as Mohamed Salah made a potential farewell appearance. Here is his report from the post-match press conference with Reds manager Arne Slot:
Arne Slot claimed he had no outstanding issues with Mohamed Salah and would see the Egypt international after the Africa Cup of Nations following the forward’s positive return for Liverpool against Brighton.
Salah was reintroduced to the Liverpool side as a 26th-minute substitute having been omitted from the Champions League win at Inter over the incendiary interview he gave at Elland Road last Saturday. Slot refused to divulge details of the conversation that led to Salah being restored to the squad on Friday but insisted that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was resolved. Talks are expected, however, between the Liverpool hierarchy and Salah’s representative while the forward is away on Afcon duty.
“For me there’s no issues to resolve,” said the Liverpool head coach. “He is the same as any other player. You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things. There is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.”
Read the full report here:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Sunday’s matchday live ahead of a busy day of football across the UK and further afield. I’ll be getting stuck into the buildup to today’s matches and go through the big stories, plus any breaking news.
I would love to hear from you so please get in touch via the comments section below the line or via our dedicated matchday live email.
As we get underway let’s have a quick look at some of the big headlines from last night…
