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Good morning football fans. It’s Thursday, May. 07 - The UK government is planning a crackdown on ticket touting for the Euros, tourism is still flagging behind expectations ahead of the World Cup, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
UEFA Europa League semi-finals leg 2 (May 7): Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest, agg 0-1, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Villa go into the second leg with a one-goal deficit, but they are unbeaten in each of their last 10 meetings with Forest at Villa Park across all competitions. Forest, though, are unbeaten in each of their three European games against fellow English opposition, keeping a clean sheet each time. Freiburg vs. Braga, agg 1-2, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Braga hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg, but each of the last three Portuguese sides to win the first leg of a Europa League tie beyond the round of 16 have still failed to progress. Meanwhile, should Freiburg win the match, they will equal the competition’s record for the most consecutive home wins (11).
Editor’s note: Uefa Conference League semi-final matches will be played concurrently with the Europa League. The semi-final second leg match-ups are Crystal Palace vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Agg 3-1) and Strasbourg vs. Rayo Vallecano (Agg 0-1).
Results…
Champions League semi-final: Bayern Munich 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Agg 5-6)
Women’s Super League: Brighton 1-1 Arsenal (Table)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Ticket Touting Crackdown
The UK government is planning to make the unauthorised reselling of tickets for major events, such as the 2028 European Championship, a criminal offence. The crackdown on touting is part of the government’s plans to make the UK the “go-to destination” for hosting major sporting events, and it also aims to apply these rules to the bid for the 2035 Women’s World Cup, which the government is currently pursuing.
Scotland has already passed legislation prohibiting the resale of unauthorised Euro 2028 tickets above face value. At the UK level, the proposed Bill would go further by banning the unauthorised sale of tickets above face value, or any sale made with a view to profit. If enacted, Euro 2028, which will be hosted across the UK and Ireland, would be the first major tournament at which the new nationwide rules are enforced. Ireland also introduced a ban on ticket touting in 2021, although no prosecutions have yet been brought under that regime.
Some reports suggest the legislation may be delayed. The Financial Times reported last week that, while there is broad support for the policy, one person familiar with the discussions said that “there are a number of competing aims and restricted space” in the parliamentary calendar.
World Cup Impact Questioned
Nearly 80% of hoteliers in World Cup host cities say demand is tracking below typical June or July levels without major events, according to new data from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Demand in host cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Boston was particularly low, with 70% of respondents claiming bookings were below pace, while 60% said the same in Los Angeles, New York City, Houston, and Dallas.
Meanwhile, Miami and Atlanta look comparatively better, as more than half (55%) of respondents in Miami say that bookings are ahead of typical summer benchmarks, while half of hoteliers in Atlanta say bookings are ahead of or in line with expectations.
Fifa analysis projected a $30.5bn uplift in economic output, driven largely by tourism to the host nations, with a fifty-fifty split between domestic and international visitors. The AHLA survey, however, showed that seven in 10 respondents believe visa barriers and broader geopolitical concerns are suppressing international demand.
This more cautious picture is supported by a report issued last week by Oxford Economics, which stated that host cities will “generate some GDP growth this summer,” but it will be concentrated in leisure and hospitality. Most importantly, it claimed that the uplift will “not have a material impact” on overall jobs and economic gains this year.
Iran Demands World Cup Assurances
Iranian FA chief Mehdi Taj has said that Fifa must guarantee the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted if the national team is to travel to play at the World Cup this summer. This comes a week after an Iranian delegation didn’t attend the Fifa Congress meeting in Vancouver after being turned back at the Canadian border, citing disrespectful treatment by the country’s immigration officials. Associates of the IRGC, of which Taj himself is affiliated, are banned from entering Canada.
While Taj said the decision to turn back at the Canadian border was the delegation’s own decision, Canada’s immigration minister confirmed to parliament that Taj’s visa had been revoked while he was in the air due to his links with the IRGC. Last week, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that no one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country, though the Iranian players participating in the tournament would be welcome.
Taj is now seeking assurances from Fifa about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the US. "We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," Taj said on Tuesday night. "This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again."
POLL
Who do you think will win the UEFA Champions League final?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Most Manchester United players will reportedly receive a 25% rise in salary following their qualification for the Champions League (More) | Manchester United are in advanced talks with a British betting company to be the club’s training kit sponsor next season (More)
> Manchester City Women have claimed their first Women’s Super League title in a decade following Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Brighton, ending Chelsea’s six-year dominance (More) | The English FA and US Soccer Federation are lobbying Fifa to seek to have more control over the upcoming Women’s World Cups (More)
> Gerard Pique, owner of Spanish second-division side Andorra, has been handed a six-match ban for complaints to the referee (More)
> The UK’s tax authority HMRC has lost a long-running legal battle against the UK’s football refereeing body over the employment status of 60 referees, after the tax authority issued a £584,000 tax bill (More)
Americas
> Atlanta United and Mercedes-Benz Stadium owner Arthur Blank confirms that the stadium won’t raise prices for the World Cup this summer (More)
> Nashville SC were eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup, falling 2-0 on aggregate in the semifinals to Liga MX’s Tigres UANL (More)
> Argentina’s Gianluca Prestianni could miss the opening two matches of the World Cup after Fifa accepted Uefa’s request to extend his ban for homophobia (More)
> Toronto FC were eliminated by Atletico Ottawa following a 3-1 loss on Tuesday in the Canadian Championship preliminary round (More) | The World Cup can push football into Canada’s sporting mainstream, according to Canadian Premier League commissioner James Johnson (More)
> Brazilian forward Hulk, 39, has officially joined Fluminense through December of next year (More)
Rest of the World
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Should clubs make it mandatory for players to attend matches even if they’re injured?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (58%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (39%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 S.D: “Absolutely, the player is still being paid and has an obligation to support their team. If I were sick and couldn’t come in to work, that’s one thing, but then going to play golf on my 'sick day’ wouldn’t sit well with my employer.”
👍 M.C.T: “It would seem that the club, in paying its players a lot of money, ought to be able to dictate whether the presence of the players - even if injured - would be beneficial. And if the club deems it important for a player to be at a match, then so be it.”
🙅♂️ S: “While I think it is good for injured players to attend home matches, in many cases, a player can better serve the team by using that time for rehab and rest. This is especially true for away games where travel can cut into both their time for rehab and remove them from helpful resources.”
✍️ L.J: “I honestly think it is a case-by-case situation. Yes, it is good for fans and the club to have the injured players out there and visible, but sometimes it is not feasible or advisable, depending on the nature of the injury. So making it mandatory is too inflexible.”
EXTRA TIME
Everything to know about the Champions League final.
Vancouver’s Science World will be transformed into a World Cup ball.
Messi, Bad Bunny, and Timothee Chalamet feature in Adidas’ World Cup campaign.
Can Spurs rely on their away form to avoid relegation?
The best and worst Clasico kits of all time.
Netflix release trailer on Mexico’s iconic 1986 World Cup.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Can you name the last five men’s World Cup Golden Boot winners?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
You cannot go to watch in the US a college game… for less than $300. And this is the World Cup.
Answer
2022: Kylian Mbappe (France) - 8 goals. 2018: Harry Kane (England) - 6 goals. 2014: James Rodriguez (Colombia) - 6 goals. 2010: Thomas Muller (Germany) - 5 goals. 2006: Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 5 goals.
