Road To Russia - April 27th 2018

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 27, April 2018

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BUSINESS DAY

Friday 27, April 2018

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ANALYSIS

NIGERIA, OTHERS TO EARN $1.5M FOR WORLD CUP PREPARATION COSTS …. As FIFA rakes over $250million from ticket sales …1.7million tickets sold out in Phase 1 & 2 … A total prize money pool of $400million for participating teams Stories by Anthony Nlebem

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he World Cup excitement continues to build as the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) may have successfully raked-in an average of $250 million from Phase 1 and Phase 2 tranche of ticket sales for the forthcoming World Cup final in Russia in June this year.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles with 31 participating teams will be paid $1.5million to cover preparation costs. Also, each of the 32 teams will be guaranteed a participation fee of $8million. Progressing through to the first knock-out stage boosts the prize to $9million while a quarter-final finish is

worth $14million. In the much-derided third place play-off, $42million is shared between the two sides with the victor taking home $22million. Runners-up in the final can console themselves with a $25million prize as the winners take home $38million.

FIFA also stated that “1.7million tickets have been allocated to fans worldwide since sales started in September 2017 and the closure of the second period of Phase 2 of ticket sales, with the overall international demand accounting for 53%” “Most of these tickets have been allocated to Russian fans (796,875), followed

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by fans from the USA (80,161), Brazil (65,863), Colombia (60,199), Germany (55,136), Mexico (51,736), Argentina (44,882), Peru (38,544), China (36,841), Australia (34,628) and England (30,711) - the top-ten countries,” the FIFA said in this week’s statement.

The excitement started building seven month ago, as requests for the World Cup tickets remained high since September 14.

As at the end of phase-1 sales window, a total of 742,760 tickets were successfully sold to subscribers. The majority of ticket applications came from host nation Russia with 47 percent, while all other nations had tickets allocated equivalent to 53 percent of the total number of sold tickets.

FIFA’s Head of Ticketing, Falk Eller, said the world football body was already overwhelmed by the positive response from both the host country and international fans.

“We are again expecting high demand once sales. Considering such remarkable interest in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia from fans all over the world, we will like to once again stress that the only official, legitimate and user-friendly source to purchase tickets is the FIFA.com/tickets website. Fans who purchase tickets from other sources put themselves at significant risk of missing out on the World Cup, and of course we will not want that to happen,” Eller said.

The first window of phase-1 ticket sales started on September 14 and ended October12; while the second window also in

Friday 27, April 2018

phase-1 started on November 16 lasted till 28th.

The first window in phase-two opened on December 5 and ended on January 31; while the second window in Phase-2 kicked off in March 13 until April 3, 2018.

The last phase of world cup ticket according to the world’s football governing body will started on April 18 and runs till the closing date in July 15, 2018.

“With few days left until the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, another ticket sales period drew to a close today, April 3rd,” the world’s governing football body said in its statement.

“During the first-come, first-served sales window, which opened on 13 March, a total of 394,433 tickets were allocated to fans across the world,” according to the FIFA. “Most of the tickets during this sales period were allocated to Russian fans (216,134), followed by fans from USA (16,462), Argentina (15,006), Colombia (14,755), Mexico (14,372), Brazil (9,962), Peru (9,766), China (6,598), Germany (5,974), Australia (5,905) and India (4,509) – the top ten countries from abroad,” the statement said.

The Phase 2 of ticket sales for the quadrennial world football championship was divided into two periods, just like during the preceding Phase 1.

The first period of the Phase 2 of ticket sales was launched on December 5, 2017 and closed on January 31, 2018. The second period of Phase 2 dubbed as the “First-come, first served” will open on March 13 and provide sales services until its closure on April 3.

Phase 3, dubbed as the “Last Minute Sales,” will run from April 18 up until the final match day of the competition and the remaining tickets will be available for purchase on a first-come first-serve basis.

The most expensive ticket for the 2018 final will cost $1,108, up from $990 for the 2014 final in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. However, Russian residents get significantly discounted tickets. While the Category 4 ticket is reserved exclusively for residents of Russia; Categories 1, 2 and 3 are avail-

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able to all customers.

For the opening match, BusinessDay checks on FIFA website for individual match tickets show Category 1 spectators are paying $550 for the ticket; Category 2 ($390); Category 3 ($220); and Category 4 ($55). For the Group Matches, Category 1 ticket costs $210; Category 2 ($165); Category 3 ($105); while Category 4 ticket costs $21.

The ticket prices for Round of 16 shows Category 1 costs $245; Category 2 ($185); Category 3 ($115); and Category 4 ($37).

The ticket price for Quarter Finals shows Category 1 spectators are paying $365; Category 2 ($255); Category 3 ($175) and Category 4 ($65). World Cup ticket prices for Semi-final show $750 for Category 1 spectators; while Category 2 fans are buying tickets at $480; Category 3 ($285); and Category 4 ($78).

For the third-place match (Play-off),

Category 1 fans are buying the tickets for $365; while Category 2 fans are paying $255; Category 3 ($175); and while Category 4 fans are buying the ticket for $65.

Category 1 fans will pay $1,100 for the Final Game while Category 2 fans pay $710; Category 3 ($455); while Category 4 fans are paying $122 for the ticket.

On the first phase of ticket sales, most of the applications are from Russia, while international demand accounts for more than 30 percent. German, Brazilian, Argentinian, Mexican, US, Colombian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Polish fans all rank in the top 10, while around 150,000 tickets have been requested for the Opening Match and more than 300,000 for the

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Final.

Nigeria’s senior male soccer national team, the Super Eagles is making its sixth appearance and are in Group D with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland. Nigeria was the first African country to book a berth in Russia and finished unbeaten in Africa’s Group B, winning all their home games with two draws and a victory away under German coach Gernot Rohr. The nation, which is the only one of Africa’s five representatives from the last World Cup who returns for the 2018 edition in Russia, will be looking to get into the last round of 16 in Brazil.

Already, a crop of exciting youngsters headline the national team representing Africa’s most populous nation including Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, Henry Onyekuru and Moses Simon represent a new generation that has emerged since the 2014 finals as Nigeria surprisingly qualified easily from a tough group that included Algeria, who also reached the second round of the last World Cup, and African champions Cameroon.

The winning team for this year’s World Cup in Russia will be awarded a record $38million (£29m) in prize money; FIFA boosted its financial offering to record levels. A total prize money pool of $400million represents a 12 per cent increase on the $358million paid out to teams at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where victors Germany received $35million. The money is paid to a nation’s football association, who will have negotiated their own financial agreements with their players.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino

said the prize money increase represented “a positive sign in terms of the healthy financial situation of FIFA”, despite the organisation’s $369million loss in 2016. The tournament begins on 14 June with Russia playing the opener at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Of the 32 teams, 20 will be making back-to-back appearances following the last edition of the tournament in 2014, including defending champions Germany, while Iceland and Panama will both be making their first appearances at a FIFA World Cup. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final will take place on 15 July in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.

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TRAVEL

WAKANOW, GEO TRAVEL UNVEIL SCHEME FOR WORLD CUP FANS Anthony Nlebem & Ifeoma Okeke

Eagles ready for England friendly, says Mikel … As match tickets sells for 70 pounds at Wembley Stadium

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uper Eagles Captain Mikel John Obi, has assured that the Nigeria will be at their best for the prestige international friendly match against the Three Lions of England, coming up at Wembley Stadium on 2nd June 2018.

Speaking to thenff.com, the midfield enforcer, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Sunday, said there will be no option for the three –time African champions other than to give their best with the FIFA World Cup right by the door on that day.

“The match comes up only two weeks before our first match at the FIFA World Cup. It will be a big occasion and a big match for both teams as we both look forward to our respective first matches in Russia.

“England is a special place for me having spent so many years playing there, and it is one country I love to go to. We are already talking to ourselves and everyone is looking forward to the game.”

Nigeria take on Croatia in their first match at the 21st FIFA World Cup finals at the Kaliningrad Stadium on Saturday, 16th June before games against Iceland (Volgograd; 22nd June) and Argentina (Saint Petersburg; 26th June) in Group D. England will play their first match against Tunisia (Volgograd; 18th June) before matches against Panama (Nizhny Novgorod; 24th June) and Belgium (Kaliningrad; 28th June) in Group G. Meanwhile, tickets for the England/Nigeria match are still selling, with the lowest ticket going for the sum of 35 pounds sterling. There are also tickets for 70 pounds, 55 pounds and 45 pounds. Concessions are available for students, persons under the age of 16 and senior citizens, with 10 pounds off their preferred ticket. All tickets are subject to availability and subject to the terms and conditions of The Football Association.

Organizers said no tickets would be sold on match day at the Wembley Stadium, while urging Nigerian fans to buy the ‘Away Tickets’ as Nigeria will benefit from sales of ‘Away Tickets’. The tickets are available on www.thefa.com/nigeriatickets.

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s the excitements continues to build ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup which kicks-off in less than two months with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow on June 14, 2018. Wakanow, an online travel agency as part of its drive to boost the ability of football loving Nigerians wishing to travel to Russia to catch the actions live for the FIFA World Cup, has designed a new travel payment scheme, ‘Travel Now Pay Later’ aimed at alleviating the strain of outright payment for travel packages on her customers by allowing them pay in convenient installments even after their travel date.

According to a statement by the Managing Director of Wakanow, Obinna Ekezie, these new offerings accentuate Wakanow’s commitment to boost the financial capacity of Nigerians to afford air travel and benefit from the innumerable benefits of travel and leisure. As a company with keen interest in sports, it was ideal to launch the product exclusively to encourage the live participation of Nigerian football lovers at the forthcoming World Cup. “Generally, flights in Africa are far more expensive compared to what is obtainable in Europe and other advanced economies. The absence of open skies across Africa’s biggest economies and convoluted routes make travel cost expensive, inhibit trade and result in lower passenger demand. We believe that by making travel cheaper and more affordable, we will be empowering more Nigerians to afford air travel,” Ekezie said.

Also, Geo Travel and Tours recently partnered with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the official travel partner for the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia. The event, themed: “Road to Russia,” is poised to connect football-loving Nigerians to the Super Eagles when they face their counterparts in Russia.

The travel agency said its backing is critical and strategic.

It said: “It is important to make the Super Eagles feel the presence of home support by turning up a massive crowd in Russia. Geo travel and tours will collaborate with the local football loving community to give our full support to the Nigerian football national team by flying proud supporters to Russia to cheer on and support the Super Eagles.”

It further added: “Nigerians will also have the option of choosing from our number of customized packages that gives them the flexibility of choosing to see the first, second or third game only, or a combination of the first and second games, second and third, or all three games.”

According to Damilola Osikoya, Head of Business, Geo Travel and Tours said: “Geo travel and tours aligning with the NFF is the company’s own way of making travelling to the world cup as easy as a phone call.”

Osikoya said Geo Travel and Tours will also adopt flexible payment plans for Nigerians hoping to book now and pay on a later date.

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NEWS

FIFA STRUGGLES FOR SPONSORS AS WORLD CUP DRAWS NEAR

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t’s shocking to hear that in 48 days to kick-off of the most glamorous football tournament on earth, the world soccer governing body FIFA is struggling to find suitable sponsors for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Fewer companies have signed sponsorship deals for this year’s tournament in Russia than had done so two months prior to the 2014 competition in Brazil.

FIFA divides sponsors into three groups — partners, World Cup sponsors and regional supporters.

Seven “partners,” all global brands with financial muscle, have signed up to FIFA’s highest level of sponsorship.

Brands such as Coca-Cola, Hyundai-Kia Motors, Visa and Adidas have remained FIFA’s loyal, long-term partners. Newcomers to FIFA’s top roster of sponsors have been limited to the Middle East’s Qatar Airways, Russian state oil giant, Gazprom and Wanda Group, which calls itself the world’s biggest private property developer.

A pressing concern for FIFA is the declining number of businesses sponsoring its prime tournament.

Five companies have agreed to funnel money to FIFA in return for logos plastered across Russian stadiums and other media exposure during the month-long World Cup, compared to a total of eight in Brazil.

A trio of Western brands — Continental, Johnson & Johnson and Castrol — opted not to renew their sponsorship deals in 2018, the same year as reports of corruption at the top of FIFA came to light.

Instead, Chinese firms have stepped up to fill the void left by U.S. and European brands.

Mengniu, China’s second-largest dairy company signed a sponsorship deal in December, granting it the right to air commercials across a total of 64 World Cup games in June and July. The company is among the five firms listed in FIFA’s second group of tournament-only sponsors.

Sports marketer and former FIFA employ-

ee Patrick Nally said FIFA’s toxic brand is the main driving force behind Western firms disassociating themselves from sponsoring the World Cup. “Clearly, FIFA has become a toxic brand,” Nally said. “It has been a corrupt organisation. Companies are concerned with their own image nowadays, so you can understand why it (FIFA) isn’t an attractive proposition.”

U.S. prosecutors arrested seven FIFA officials in a raid at FIFA’s Swiss headquarters in May 2015, culminating in a ban from football activities for the body’s former president Sepp Blatter.

Nally, who worked on bringing Coca-Cola in as a sponsor for FIFA and helped establish the organisation’s marketing packages for the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, believes the alignment of Chinese, Russian and Middle Eastern companies shows “political decisions” have replaced decisions made on a purely commercial basis at the top of FIFA. He added that nothing can change the perception of FIFA as a “toxic brand,” but did propose one solution. “FIFA will continue to be in decline and should consider a complete name change or brand image change.”

ACCOMMODATION

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ussia’s consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has reported that a total of 591 cases of inflating hotel accommodation prices had been registered across the country in host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Rights Protection (Rospotrebnadzor) said in its statement that as

the result of the discovered violations, the agency imposed numerous penalties to the total sum of almost six million rubles (about $97,800).

“A total number of 591 violations of hiking up accommodation prices were registered, while 135 cases were also reported in regard to hotels having no necessary certificates of compliance,” the statement from the agency said.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in less than two months with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

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TRAVEL

FIFA SAYS OVER 164,000 TICKETS SOLD IN 24 HOURS

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ver 164,000 tickets for matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup were sold within a 24hour period after the third and the final phase of ticket sales for the world championship kicked off on Wednesday April 18, the FIFA said in a statement.

The statement from the world’s governing football body, FIFA, said that “164,136

tickets have been allocated to fans around the world… in the first 24 hours of the last-minute sales phase, which started on 18 April at 12:00 Moscow time.”

“Most of the tickets have been allocated to Russian fans (87,902), followed by fans from Argentina (7,740), Mexico (6,598), Brazil (6,198), USA (5,780), Germany (5,181), Peru (3,799), Colombia (3,756), China (2,930), Egypt (2,370) and India (1,905) - the top ten countries outside host nation Russia ,” the statement said.

Ticket sales’ Phase 3, dubbed as the “Last Minute Sales,” runs starting April 18 up until the final match day of the competition in July and the remaining tickets

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are available for purchase on a first-come first-serve basis.

“The last-minute sales will be open until 15 July 2018. In this phase, fans are able to purchase tickets online, subject to availability, in real time and on a first-come, first-served basis,” the statement from the FIFA said.

The world’s football organisation keeps reminding, “At the request of the Russian authorities, all fans attending matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup need to apply for a Fan-ID - the official identity document issued to fans.”

Russia came up for this FIFA World Cup with an innovation, which is the so-called Fan-ID and it is required for all ticketholders. This innovation was successfully tested during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia and earned high marks from the world’s governing football body.

The Fan-ID plays an important security role during the major football tournament in Russia as it grants admittance to the stadiums and also serves as visa for foreign visitors to enter the country.

A Fan-ID holder is allowed to enter the country without having a Russian visa and stay for the duration of the global football tournament. Fan-IDs are obligatory, in addition to purchased tickets, in order to attend matches of the 2018 World Cup tournament in Russia.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 57 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.

DESPITE SOUR RELATIONS, US REQUEST FOR WORLD CUP FAN-IDS RISES

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S President Donald Trump recently wrote on his Twitter account that reads “Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War” But despite the statement from Trump, requests from the United States for attending matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, keeps steadily increasing despite the recently soured relations between Washington and Moscow, a senior official with the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media said.

Andrei Chernenko, the head of the ministry’s department for the strategic projects implementation, said “the number of requests from Americans is on the rise.”

“This situation, which is inflamed by mass media, has no impact whatsoever and there is no negative trend,” he said. “The applications from Americans keep flowing in and the trend is positive.”

The US national football team did not qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup; however, US nationals are leading among other foreigners in terms of tickets’ purchase for the matches of the upcoming

world football championship in Russia.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 54 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

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ANALYSIS

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IFA President Gianni Infantino said the governing soccer body is keen on hastening the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams for the 2022 tournament in Qatar, a move that might require the tiny Gulf nation to share games in the region.

The world football governing body will now study if Qatar can alone cope with the additional logistical challenges of hosting 16 more teams and 16 more games than originally planned for the Middle East’s first World Cup. The jump from 32 to 48 teams was originally only due to apply from the 2026 tournament under plans Infantino secured approval for last year. But he is highly receptive to a request received from South American confederation CONMEBOL and its 10-member associations to accelerate the expansion plans.

“It seems to me a very interesting idea,” Infantino said after attending a CONMEBOL meeting in Buenos Aires. “Of course we have to study the feasibility of this proposal. If it’s possible, if it is feasible, if the others agree too, because it is not a decision that only the president of FIFA or CONMEBOL make ... of course we are going to study it.

“And I really think it is something very interesting. We have to study it seriously and if it is possible, why not?”

An early expansion would allow FIFA to generate more revenue to replenish the coffers hit by corruption scandals and potentially strengthen Infantino’s position among the 211 memberships before seeking re-election next year.

“I firmly believe as president of FIFA in an enlargement of participating national teams because I am convinced that it is good for the development of football all over the world,” Infantino said. “That is why we have proposed it and that is why we have agreed to it since 2026.”

Qatar currently has plans to build eight stadiums, whereas bidders for the 48team 2026 tournament have been told they need 12 venues. Rather than further straining the requirements on Qatar, one option to accommodate the leap from 64 to 80 would be to share games in the Gulf.

Qatar won the FIFA vote in 2010 with a vision of the World Cup benefiting the Middle East but with all the games in the small desert nation. Hopes of a unifying

tournament for the region were eroded when Qatar’s neighbors, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cut diplomatic ties last year.

Kuwait, which retains relations with Qatar, could be a co-host after Infantino worked to ensure the country’s suspension from FIFA was lifted in December.

Qatar World Cup organizing committee secretary general Hassan al-Thawadi has not ruled out the possibility of sharing matches with neighbors.

“Qatar has always been open to dialogue,” Al Thawadi told The Associated Press in November. “It’s always been open and it’s always supported our brother nations, to the extent that if (sharing the World Cup) was the ultimate goal, all that would have required was a simple conversation.”

Before being elected FIFA President, Infantino served as general secretary at European governing body UEFA under Michel Platini, who called on Qatar to share games in the region after voting for the country in the contentious hosting vote in 2010.

The Qatar tournament is already due to operate on a tight 28-day schedule to please club sides after FIFA shifted the event from its usual June-July slot to November-December because of the extreme heat in the desert nation.

The condensed tournament program was agreed to minimize disruption to club schedules after FIFA faced opposition from within the European Club Association. FIFA’s latest attempt to change the international tournament schedule could provoke further concern from the ECA’s influential members who have most of the world’s top players in their squads.

The ECA declined comment Thursday on the 2022 expansion plan being championed by CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez.