Is this why you should boycott the Champions League Final?

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The price of tickets for a football game has recently reached a boiling point across Europe. Liverpool fans were seen walking out of Anfield, Borussia Dortmund fans were seen throwing tennis balls during a match, and countless other groups of fans from clubs big or small have tried to make their voices heard amongst the deafening white noise of corporate greed. These forms of protest have garnered some positive results, but a more recent development by UEFA is blatantly disrespectful towards fans and all who love the game of football.

It has been reported that UEFA only plan to give the supporters of the two teams that make it to the Champions league final a combined 50% of the tickets, with the rest going to corporate sponsors. This action is indicative of the direction that those at the top of these massive corporations want to take the sport. True fans are being priced out of the game they love just so big companies can make a few more bucks. In the grand scheme of things, many have calculated that raising ticket prices is just a drop in the bucket compared to the insanely lucrative TV deals and other forms of revenue. The fans are not the source in which football teams and their corporate sponsors should be trying to squeeze every last cent out of.

However, this UEFA issue isn’t even about ticket prices, it’s about the culture and atmosphere that is being seriously threatened. Part of what has attracted myself and many others to the game of football, is the obvious passion that bleeds over from the fans. Those who sing for ninety minutes straight, those who travel across continents just to support their team in competition, and those who have dedicated large parts of their lives to something bigger than themselves.

To some, the sport of football may just be another method of putting across a product they’d like to sell, but football is so much more than that. It’s THE global game, and to many it’s not a sport it’s a religion. Now more than ever, fans need to stand up and be counted if they want to keep those who truly care about the team and the sport in the stands. The effect that Liverpool fans had on the higher ups at their own club is a win for everyone in the sport.

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It showed that if fans band together against an legitimate injustice, they can make a real difference. This freezing of ticket prices for three years wasn’t at a small lower division team in some obscure league, it was at one of the biggest and most historically successful club in the history of European and English football. Establishing and integrating change at the highest level of football is essential in making a global change for fair prices and making sure the fan is being serviced, not taken advantage of.

That is why I am suggesting that you only watch 50% of the Champions League Final this year. If UEFA are only going to give 50% to the fans, then the fans are only going to give 50% to them. This is a pivotal point in the history of the game and everyone has a chance to say that they made a difference. The Champions League Final is only second to that of the World Cup, if fans are to have a real say, this is where we can show them. So turn off your cable boxes, live streams, phones, tablets, and make your voice heard. If you agree with this message, pass it on and be a part of making a change in a world where so few believe change can be made at an individual level.

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