EPL: Fans to stage protest against ticket pricing

EPL supporters are gearing up to stage a protest against ticket prices on Wednesday.

The escalating cost of tickets to attend matches in England is one of the main reasons for the protest. Manchester City recently returned 912 tickets, priced at £62 each, for their game with Arsenal in January, which added to the already existing controversial issues.

A protest organized by a Liverpool fans group called the Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) will march to the Premier League’s London headquarters. It is reported that Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, will meet with the organisers there.

The protesters will include fans from other Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

Even the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) will be backing up the march as they want the ticket prices for away matches to come down to £20.

“Along with campaigns like the FSF’s Twenty’s Plenty for Away Tickets, this protest will demonstrate that fans can’t be squeezed forever. Premier League clubs are set to share a £5.5 billion media deal,” said an FSF spokesperson during an interview with London Evening Standard.

“Clubs are swimming in cash and it’s about time fans’ loyalty was rewarded with more affordable tickets,” he added.

But a Premier League spokesperson said: “Ticket pricing is a matter for individual clubs, many of which work hard to fill their stadiums with offers at different points during a season that make top-flight football accessible to large numbers of fans.

“We have always encouraged stretch pricing to help accessibility and it is against Premier League rules to charge away fans more than home fans for the same standard of seats.”

Source: ESPN.co.UK