Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was notoriously fearless and intimidating. During his 12 years at Old Trafford, the Irish midfielder received his arms on 17 trophies and left his mark on many an opposing participant.
But certainly one of his most enduring contributions to the sport was a remark made after a UEFA Champions League match in 2000, when he invoked a prawn sandwich to deride soccer’s gentrification.
“Some people come to Old Trafford, and I don’t think they could spell football, never mind understand it,” Keane complained. “They’ve had a few drinks and probably a few prawn sandwiches and they don’t realize what’s going on out on the pitch.”
It was a reducing comment that captured the media’s creativeness, spawning the derogatory time period “prawn sandwich brigade” for privileged followers who have been out of contact with soccer’s working-class roots, maybe extra serious about the social scene than cheering for the crew. Historically, prawns have been a luxurious commodity and a refined show of standing and wealth when served at excessive tea. Rising ticket costs in the Premier League period had been squeezing out conventional followers and their seats had been taken by an upper-crust, fair-weather fanbase.
1 / 4 of a century after Keane scornfully accused these supporters of hushing the ambiance inside soccer stadiums, followers and broadcasters nonetheless reference anybody a fan of a prawn sandwich with a sneer.
They may not use the phrase over in the United States, however many can relate to the sentiment round main sports activities occasions like the Super Bowl, the place the value of admission has turn out to be prohibitive to many.
Two weeks earlier than this 12 months’s showpiece sport between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans, NCS reported that Super Bowl LIX was set to be the most costly ever, with the common value hovering round $9,800. Factor in the journey, lodging, meals and merchandise, and this is an expertise that few outdoors the prime 1% may even conceive of; it’s for company followers who’re simply as serious about networking, celebrity-spotting and attending unique events as the motion on the area.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump have gleefully described the 2026 World Cup as an occasion of 104 Super Bowls, and it appears as if the matches are priced accordingly. To watch any of the three host nations play their opening sport subsequent summer time will value a median of $1,825, triple the value of Qatar’s opening sport in 2022 and virtually three-and-a-half instances the value of Russia’s first match in 2018.
Globally, soccer followers are livid. Writing on X, the England fan Nigel Seeley, described the costs as “insane.” A devoted supporter for 30 years, Seeley posted an inventory of the costs being quoted to the England Supporters Travel Club for every of the eight video games they could play, together with a value of between $4,185 and $8,860 for the ultimate.
He stated, “I think I will be watching the final at home if England reach it. Headed for the groups, hopefully do the quarterfinal and home. I just can’t justify paying that money, it’s a joke.”
Perhaps in response to a few of the criticism, FIFA introduced on Tuesday a new tier of pricing for some devoted supporters of every certified crew, permitting sure followers to attend matches for simply $60. But, in a confusingly worded assertion, it wasn’t clear what number of tickets would really be offered at the lowered value, solely that every collaborating member affiliation would be accountable for allocation.
Soccer remains to be a creating sport in the US, however regardless of FIFA’s said dedication to develop it globally, the Beautiful Game’s world governing physique doesn’t appear too involved about the typically inflated costs. They have reported that 2 million tickets have already been offered and declare “extraordinary global demand” for 20 million extra.
At the event attract Washington, DC, Trump praised Infantino, saying, “You’ve set new records on ticket sales, that is an amazing thing. The numbers are beyond any numbers.”
But when the event kicks off on June 11 in Mexico City, who will be in attendance? And will the 16 stadiums throughout Mexico, Canada and the US all be offered out?
If FIFA’s bold Club World Cup event earlier this summer time is any indication, there may be some trigger for concern. The video games have been overpriced and a few have been performed in half-empty stadiums, with massive swathes of open seating apparent to the broadcast cameras.
A World Cup is a soccer event for the globe, however the United States and its 11 host cities look something however welcoming now. Iran and Haiti are on the authorities’s banned listing and followers from these international locations will be denied entry. Following a deadly ambush of two National Guard troopers in the capital, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that extra international locations would be added to the listing – and the administration was true to its phrase, announcing Tuesday that it was including full and partial restrictions and entry limitations to many different international locations, together with World Cup members Ivory Coast and Senegal.
The message from many administration officers round the event has inspired supporters to come back to the US for the video games after which depart rapidly.
“We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game. But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home,” Vice President JD Vance said at the White House earlier this year.
Meanwhile, White House rhetoric suggests that it’s going to turn out to be more and more tough for anybody to safe journey visas to the US; doubtlessly years of social media exercise must be disclosed and DNA samples offered, so it could be that the bulk of the tickets must be bought by American-based followers in the midst of a well-documented affordability disaster.
When push involves shove, what number of will be pressured to concede that spending 1000’s of {dollars} on simply 90 minutes of soccer pales compared to the accountability of offering well being take care of the household or placing meals on the desk?
Ahead of its greatest ever World Cup event, FIFA has been accused of greed on an industrial scale, gouging the pockets of supporters who’re the lifeblood of the sport. Unless they make additional concessions on pricing, they could discover that they’ve bitten off greater than they will chew.
Real followers carry vitality and noise; they’ll present the soundtrack of the event. They can also drown out the sounds of clinking champagne glasses and all the prawn sandwiches being devoured in the hospitality seats.