The price of patriotism.
By: Lasana Liburd (Express).[/color]
Lasana Liburd ponders FIFA VP Jack Warner's obsession with high ticket prices.Trinidad and Tobago sport fans will pay a possible record attendance fee to see the "Soca Warriors" play Peru in an international friendly on May 10 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium. Tickets for the uncovered stand cost $300 while supporters in the covered stand must fork out $500 each with no concessions for children-or government ministers.
Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert plans to "storm". He insisted that it was a matter of principle.
"I certainly will be going to the game," Imbert said at last week's post-Cabinet press conference. "I mean the National Stadium is state property The stadium does belong to the people of T&T and as the Government we are the custodians of State property."
In response, FIFA vice-president and Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) special adviser Jack Warner promised to save him the trouble-and potential embarrassment of being turned away by unimpressed, rented security.
"Since 'no-one is above the law'," said Warner, "( ) I have taken it upon myself to purchase the ticket for Minister Imbert And I have so advised the ticket collectors at the VIP entrance of the covered stand."
It is lovely when things work out. At the very least, Imbert should send Warner his appreciation by text-via bmobile, of course.
But what about the other 100,000 or so citizens who would also like to see their national heroes for the last time before they head to the 2006 World Cup in Germany?
They cannot all get in to the Hasely Crawford Stadium, which seats roughly 23,000. So, by the law of supply and demand, Warner is justified in hiking ticket prices-simply because he can.
Only Warner dares not spout such capitalist slogans. He cannot risk sneering "Ticket or leave it!" while knowing fully well that government funding is instrumental to the T&TFF's football programme.
Warner, who was rebuked by FIFA in February for monopolising Trinidad and Tobago's ticket allocation for his own benefit, may also be wary of pushing local fans too far by openly exploiting their affection for the Warriors.
So, instead, he went for reverse psychology.
"Ask not what your football team can do for you but what you can do for your team!"
The Warriors, it seems, have a real financial crisis. They are bordering on destitute-in spite of a $39 million FIFA payout, $45 million guarantee from the T&T government and approximately $20 million in private sponsorship deals.
It is for the team's sake that Warner asked fans to dig deep and pay more than double the gate fee of $100 and $200 from the World Cup qualifying series.
Warner's financial arguments, not for the first time, were far from convincing.
There is an accommodation cost to offset in Germany, Warner explained, as national coach Leo Beenhakker wants the T&TFF officials to stay as far from the players as possible.
Only thing is FIFA said last December that it pays for accommodation for players and officials.
Warner pointed out that there was a $2.2 million loss to offset from February's international friendly against Iceland, as well as an additional $1.4 million to pay for Peru to bring its best possible team.
As regards the Iceland fixture, Warner neglected to dissect the costs or explain how a match already budgeted for can possibly incur such a loss. Or, in the latter case, exactly what type of team was Peru sending in the first place and why should T&T again be forced to go so far over its budget to coax them into sending a decent team?
Surely Warner's most eye-opening assertion was that the price had been fixed to offset the cost of giving the players two World Cup tickets each "at no cost".
Warner admitted to selling approximately 2,000 World Cup tickets meant for Trinidad and Tobago fans through Simpaul Travel by mid-February. At a profit of nearly $15,000 per package-which includes three tickets-Warner's family already benefited in the vicinity of $9 million. (Warner took his name off Simpaul's list of directors last March, although there is no evidence that he sold his shares in the company).
For Warner to balk at giving 46 complimentary tickets to the national squad, who set the stage for him to make such a handsome profit in the first place, is a lack of respect to the players' value. But for Warner to expect fans to foot the bill is an insult to the nation's collective intelligence.
Like Icarus in Greek mythology, Warner is flying dangerously close to the sun.
Beenhakker made light of the T&TFF's claim that the upcoming friendly is crucial to his preparation for the World Cup.
"Peru is more of a farewell game with all the activities going on," said Beenhakker, last Thursday. "From the moment we arrive in England (on May 16), we start (our serious work). Our preparation begins from the first game against Wales in Austria."
So, Trinidad and Tobago fans must pay an unprecedented fee to give their own team a proper send-off. But is Warner's asking price really too steep or are critics merely too cheap?
Perhaps the best indication would be to look at the prices being quoted by fellow World Cup playing nations. And it does not lend credence to the T&TFF's price hike.
In Britain, for instance, supporters will pay TT$280 (£25) to watch England play Jamaica in May, while German friendlies against other nations who, unlike Peru, will actually play in the 2006 World Cup range between TT$115 (15 Euros) and TT$458 (60 Euros).
The average salary in Germany, mind you, is TT$15,910 or 2,083 Euros per month as opposed to TT$3,500 or 458 Euros per month in Trinidad and Tobago.
Imbert, as an engineer and Member of Parliament, earns comfortably more than the average local salary but remained unconvinced at the price hike.
Tongue-in-cheek, Warner interceded on his behalf.
The rest of the nation, though, will pay heavily for their love of football in general and the Soca Warriors in particular. Warner will scrutinise the response from the public.
More than the challenge posed by 16 Peruvians, it is the jousting between Warner and the general public that might have the biggest effect on the future of local football under the present T&TFF administration.
Fans purchase tickets at the Hasely Crawford Stadium last Saturday for the international friendly between Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors and Peru at the same venue on Wednesday, May 10.
