Category Sports News

Sir Alex Ferguson would bounce down the stairs at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on Friday mornings to perform one of his favorite songs, make fun of Kath Phipps, the club’s beloved receptionist, and then address the media about the game’s outcome.

Ferguson admitted that he wasn’t the best singer.

However, the legendary former United manager has always had a significant influence on his life.

It is now more significant for Ferguson than ever.

He can see the benefits music can have for those who suffer from memory loss, including his brother Martin, who is also affected by dementia and has an impact on how people think, act, and think.

Ferguson, 83, tells BBC Breakfast that “my staff would be aware that I was inside the building when I arrived in the morning.”

“Here he comes, close the doors,” I don’t think they liked it.

It’s just a part of you, I believe. Singing is a part of me if I’m in the shower or anywhere else.

In time for National Playlist Day, Ferguson is discussing the topic of music and dementia.

Mil and Ken Simpson, who are both in their 80s and belong to a group of United season ticket holders, are meeting with him at a Cheshire hotel. Mil, 89, has been living with dementia since 2010 three years prior to Ferguson’s retirement.

Mil and Ken’s lives have been heavily influenced by music, and they regularly participate in various weekly organizations that offer dementia patients music, singing, or dancing.

Ferguson had been making his dementia-related concerns known to Breakfast for the first time in 12 months.

He was persuaded to devote more time to the subject because the response was overwhelming. He has recently become a Playlist for Life ambassador.

He replies, “It caught me a real bit. I’ve gotten a little bit more involved with myself.

Ferguson has witnessed firsthand the effects of dementia.

He claims that he and my brother are in a situation. It’s difficult, they say. I must keep in touch with him a lot. He recognizes me, but my memory isn’t very good.

He’s not bad, though. Let’s say that he’s not getting any worse, which is very encouraging.

Ferguson responds with “yes,” when asked if dementia is something that bothers him.

He replies, “Yes, because I’m his brother.” He is important to me because I only have one brother and are a year apart from him.

“It’s always in my head,” I said. You might ask, “I wonder if he’s in right now” or whether I should call him. Every day, I make an effort to do that.

I keep telling him to “Write things down.” He frequently forgets things, but I believe he makes an effort to do that.

You may be concerned about whether your memory will hold up as you get older.

“I’m 84 in December, and there are times when I forget things.” No-one has a perfect memory, even though I probably did it 20 or 30 years ago. The memory has always been significant when it comes to football, especially when I was a manager. I sing a lot, read a lot, and do a lot of crossword puzzles right now.

“I have a inclination to go back in time to the American Civil War.” I thoroughly enjoyed visiting a few of America’s battlegrounds.

Lady Cathy Ferguson’s wife passed away on October 5, 2023. The couple had been married for almost 58 years.

He claims that he spent a lot of time in the house after my wife passed away.

I moved into the country next door to my son, but it’s not good enough for me to watch TV while I travel. I visited Bahrain, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Take control of yourself. I’ve enjoyed engaging in therapy with the dementia group. I enjoy doing it.

Ferguson is still a fixture at United games despite having won 38 titles in his 26 years at Old Trafford.

His legacy continues, and it appears that he can recall as clearly as the journalists who attended his famous news conferences.

A BBC investigation revealed the existence of a black market that sold thousands of Premier League tickets.

Companies are behind it, including those based in a Swiss town with a population of 4,000.

They are thought to be using memberships and computer software to obtain tickets at scale through clubs’ online ticket platforms.

The Premier League lists the websites on an “unauthorised list,” which prohibit the sale of tickets in the UK.

Despite this, BBC Sport was able to purchase tickets for four of the games last weekend easily on the black market. The practice has been described as “endemic” in English football.

Although the Manchester derby on Sunday was sold out a few weeks ago, we purchased two tickets in the City on the day before the game.

Additionally, we made purchases for West Ham, Everton, and Arsenal fixtures.

At all four matches, our journalists were able to use the tickets to gain entry to the game.

However, this is not always the case for those who have used these websites, with some users reporting to BBC Sport paying for tickets that weren’t allowed them to attend games.

Some of the tickets were sent via UK phone numbers on Whatsapp, with strict instructions not to speak to stewards, and cost us two to four times the face value.

The findings have prompted calls for clubs, the Premier League and government to do more to crackdown on the black market.

The scale of the market is causing some to wonder if supporters can’t purchase tickets directly from official sources and whether strict segregation rules pose a safety risk.

Tens of thousands of Premier League tickets were listed for sale on the four websites overall.

For instance, nearly a third of the Emirates’ capacity was advertised for the match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, which generated more than 18,000 tickets.

BBC Sport was not able to verify whether all these tickets were genuine beyond the ones we bought.

Reg Walker, a renowned expert on ticket security, thinks that “speculative listings – tickets these websites don’t have” might explain the advertised numbers.

Only 10 to 25% of those tickets actually exist, he continued.

For context, 10% would mean thousands of tickets for each round of Premier League matches.

Prices we saw ranged from £55 to £346, frequently far above face value and frequently requiring a sizable booking fee.

A family of Japanese tourists purchased tickets for £2,200 with a face value of £87, according to Walker, who consults with Premier League clubs and has 40 years of experience in the ticketing industry.

Tickets were even listed for Arsenal’s exclusive Diamond Club and Manchester City’s Tunnel Club.

Our findings were described as “very concerning,” according to the Football Supporters’ Association.

It “confirms what we’ve been told anecdotally,” the statement read. this is becoming endemic across the game,” said FSA chair Tom Greatrex.

“Long-term supporters are having to purchase tickets through secondary organizations because of this.” ” “

All of our tickets were used as mobile passes when they were transferred digitally, in one instance the morning of the game.

Prior to the arrival of the tickets, seat numbers were not made public.

For Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium, we ordered an upper tier, behind the goal seat.

A private concourse for £1,200-per-season members that included a free pint was actually delivered as a Club View ticket near the halfway point.

One digital ticket that appeared to be for the Champions League game against Napoli automatically changed in our mobile wallet after the Etihad game and displayed a different seat number.

Only two of the clubs we visited responded to a request for comment on our findings.

As part of “strong action against ticket touting,” Arsenal announced that they had suspended almost 74,000 accounts for trying to get tickets in unauthorised ways.

But the four companies used are registered abroad – in Spain, Dubai, Germany and Estonia – and beyond the scope of UK law.

Even so, they are all actively targeting UK customers through online ads, and sellers from Live Football Tickets, Seatsnet, and Football Ticket Net reached us via UK phone numbers.

Engelberg, a mountain resort resort in central Switzerland with a population of 4,000, served as the corporate headquarters for Ticombo, a company with offices in Germany.

It was the only company to respond to our findings, sending a statement from “Ticombo legal”, saying it is a “trusted resale platform” and highlighting “the important role of secondary markets in promoting consumer choice and competition”.

It stated in its statement that it vehemently refutes allegations of wrongdoing or potential illegal behavior.

According to Ticombo, “regulations that completely outlaw ticket resale are envisaged to protect consumers but, in reality, only grant the organizers a monopoly.”

It even asked us to leave the company a positive Trustpilot review if we had a “positive experience” at the London Stadium.

Greatrex, a former Labour MP, notes that there appears to be a legal gap where organizations are based abroad.

On the “unauthorised” website, which we used just before the game, we had plenty of options for the Manchester derby.

Opting for the cheapest ticket we could find, mine cost around three times face value and arrived via a link from a mobile phone a few days later.

It had clear instructions in its box.

I was instructed not to speak with security personnel, that I must “go inside the stadium for security purposes” and that I must “go inside the stadium one hour before kick-off (no earlier).”

Adding to the suspicion, I was advised – if challenged over the ticket – to lie and say it was a free gift, because stadium staff “have an incentive to invalidate tickets”.

My ticket was scanned without anything being flagged despite these warnings. Entry was surprisingly simple, with no questions asked.

The instructions also included a request not to wear away team colours.

Why is this advice given is obvious. A seat in the home section, behind one of the goals, was the price of the ticket. I was in with some of City’s most ardent supporters.

Opposition supporters who appear in home sections have gotten fans from a number of clubs to grow more frustrated.

None of the businesses involved would provide specifics about the method by which they obtained tickets at this level.

However, more often than not, scam artists purchase tickets through software bots and fake identities.

“You are talking about tens of thousands of memberships in the hands of touts at most clubs,” said Walker.

One of the directors of these resale sites allegedly held the control of over 900 Premier League club memberships.

It’s a war,” he declared. ” “

Figures released by some clubs last year show the breadth of the challenge:

The Home Office only recorded 12 arrests last season for tickets that advertised in English football’s top six tiers.

Manal Smith was Arsenal’s head of ticketing up until April.

She claims that the “disappointment of a supporter who turns up and is denied entry” was the hardest part of her job.

We spoke with a number of fans who paid hundreds of pounds for tickets purchased from “unauthorised” platforms but were unable to watch the game they had been anticipating.

A 50th birthday trip from Devon to Old Trafford was ruined.

A 79-year-old fan from Crystal Palace was unaware that his team had won the FA Cup at Wembley.

How simple it is to purchase Premier League tickets on the black market has been the subject of a BBC investigation.

Last weekend, we purchased tickets from four websites that the Premier League had labeled “unauthorised” and used to watch four games.

The platforms claim to have tens of thousands of tickets available, although experts told us the numbers are likely inflated.

Beyond the purview of UK law, these businesses have locations abroad in Spain, Dubai, Germany, and Estonia.

Sales are only permitted by the Premier League and affiliated clubs through their own platforms and official partners.

For example, several clubs have a relationship with Ticketmaster.

A supporter’s ticket must be sold or transferred on the official club exchange if they are unable to play.

The Premier League publishes a list of websites that they deem to be “unauthorized.”

We chose four sites from that list that appeared to have the most listings and were accessible to customers in the UK.

Rarely were the seat numbers displayed. Instead of being shown, “longside lower tier” and “shortside upper tier” were used.

But almost every type of ticket was on there, including hospitality. Prices ranged from £55 to £14, 962 and were displayed in pounds. A service fee of about 25% was always included with the price we paid.

After completing our purchases the sellers were quick to get in touch. Just after paying, a Seatsnet representative called us.

In the upcoming days, they advised us to expect a barcoded ticket via email or WhatsApp.

You might be reading this and wondering what the problem is with a secondary ticket site, particularly if, in the case of the Manchester derby, it allowed you access to a sold-out game days before the match.

According to our investigations, supporters were able to pay far more for tickets than they actually did when they were actually sold.

The businesses claim to have thousands of tickets at hand. That means they have been taken out of general circulation so fans will find it harder to purchase tickets at normal values from the club.

Thirdly, safety and segregation are in the minds of some.

We used these four internationally recognized websites:

And it seems like they are big fans of reselling Premier League tickets.

In their most recent public accounts, Livetix Group, the company behind Live Football Tickets, reported revenue of 19 million euros.

All these websites describe themselves as “ticket marketplaces”, supposedly connecting buyers with sellers.

Only Ticombo frequently details who those sellers are.

Additionally, NGO Events, a seller, has more than 14, 000 listings on the website.

But company records show NGO Events is not an independent trader. Thomas Senge, the managing director of Ticombo Switzerland, oversees it.

Atle Barlaup, Senge’s chief executive, and Ticombo’s other top-selling CEO, both previously served on the boards of WorldTix, another significant Ticombo stock.

All three companies appear to be linked and are registered in the same small Swiss town of Engelberg.

NGO Events and WorldTix, according to Ticombo, are “partners of Ticombo” but “accomplish the same obligations” as other traders.

In the world of touting, Barlaup is a well-known name.

In 2011, he admitted to BBC Panorama that he had paid Fifa vice-president Jack Warner 242, 000 euros in cash for 820 World Cup tickets.

Ticombo claimed Barlaup spoke to BBC Panorama to “highlight corruption within Fifa.”

Football Ticket Net‘s history is also rife.

They are currently registered in Estonia but their shareholders are from Israel.

A French court fined them 600,000 euros in exchange for selling tickets for European finals and infringing on the trademarks of a previous parent company owned by one of the current shareholders.

Despite our four successes, resold tickets are not always simple to use when entering the turnstiles.

Numerous reports of supporters being denied entry were heard.

“It’s Wild West stuff”, said Crystal Palace fan Matt.

His 79-year-old uncle could attend May’s FA Cup final on a separate website called Fanpass, but he was turned down at the gate and later paid £400.

Twenty minutes prior, Wembley confirmed that a duplicate ticket had been scanned.

In messages seen by the BBC, the seller bragged about sneaking 200 other people into the match.

Every customer is taken care of by Fanpass, according to Fanpass, and we want to make sure they can attend the event to which they have purchased tickets. Extremely uncommon are the instances where a customer is denied entry.

A Ticombo buyer, Alister had a similarly troubling experience.

A tout met him outside the Emirates to personally scan him in with a replacement when his ticket failed.

Supporter of Nottingham Forest Alister had intended to play in the opposite end. Once inside, he realised his new ticket had placed him among the home fans.

He claimed that “the Arsenal fans didn’t want us there.” It was “uncomfortable, inappropriate, and completely unacceptable.”

Using fake identities and bots, many ticket sellers purchase them. We do not know if this is a method used by any of the companies we have mentioned.

Some tickets have the original holder’s name on them, providing hints as to where they came from.

Five tickets, which were purchased from “unauthorised” websites and fans shared, bear names that aren’t listed on the UK electoral open register, birth certificates from England and Wales, or social media:

According to Reg Walker, a renowned expert in ticket security, “at least a few of them seem completely synthetic.”

So-called ticket bots are another issue, even though they are against the law.

These computer programmes automate the official ticket buying process and allow touts to buy multiple tickets simultaneously.

We spoke with a company that sells such technology when I posed as a potential customer.

They provided us with software specifically tailored to Tottenham’s, Chelsea, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea’s ticket distribution platforms.

The bots were priced at $2, 500 per club, or $9, 900 for a package deal.

We were informed that we would need a “basic licence,” but the software allowed us to use the club’s website to access a queue up to 25 times at once.

The Premier League is already implementing new “encrypted barcodes” in new regulations for digital ticketing.

They claim that this will make it more challenging to advertise.

Banking app-style ID verification and a limit on the number of times a ticket can be transferred are two other solutions suggested by Manal Smith – former head of ticketing at Arsenal.

The government has proposed a cap on the sale price of tickets across sectors.

However, the Football Supporters’ Association argued that lawmakers should proceed even further.

“There seems to be a loophole where agencies are based abroad that needs to be looked at in terms of legislation”, says FSA chair Tom Greatrex, who is a former Labour MP.

Walker also thinks that foreign company-targeted legislation is the solution.

The legislation does not violate international law. If you’re outside the UK you don’t commit an offence – that’s something that a simple amendment would solve”.

The conflict between the biggest football clubs and ticket sellers was described as an “arms race.”

How simple it is to purchase Premier League tickets on the black market has been the subject of a BBC investigation.

Last weekend, we purchased tickets from four websites that the Premier League had labeled “unauthorised” and used to watch four games.

The platforms claim to have tens of thousands of tickets available, although experts told us the numbers are likely inflated.

Beyond the purview of UK law, these businesses have locations abroad in Spain, Dubai, Germany, and Estonia.

Sales are only permitted by the Premier League and affiliated clubs through their own platforms and official partners.

For example, several clubs have a relationship with Ticketmaster.

A supporter’s ticket must be sold or transferred on the official club exchange if they are unable to play.

The Premier League publishes a list of websites that they deem to be “unauthorized.”

We chose four sites from that list that appeared to have the most listings and were accessible to customers in the UK.

Rarely were the seat numbers displayed. Instead of being shown, “longside lower tier” and “shortside upper tier” were used.

But almost every type of ticket was on there, including hospitality. Prices ranged from £55 to £14, 962 and were displayed in pounds. A service fee of about 25% was always included with the price we paid.

After completing our purchases the sellers were quick to get in touch. Just after paying, a Seatsnet representative called us.

In the upcoming days, they advised us to expect a barcoded ticket via email or WhatsApp.

You might be reading this and wondering what the problem is with a secondary ticket site, particularly if, in the case of the Manchester derby, it allowed you access to a sold-out game days before the match.

According to our investigations, supporters were able to pay far more for tickets than they actually did when they were actually sold.

The businesses claim to have thousands of tickets at hand. That means they have been taken out of general circulation so fans will find it harder to purchase tickets at normal values from the club.

Thirdly, safety and segregation are in the minds of some.

No details about our supporters’ support were checked. For the Manchester derby, for example, we could have been Manchester United fans in the City end.

Football clubs are responsible for developing their own strategies to stop ticket sales to unauthorised resellers, according to a statement from the UK government.

We used these four internationally recognized websites:

And it appears reselling Premier League tickets is big business for them.

In their most recent public accounts, Livetix Group, the company behind Live Football Tickets, reported revenue of 19 million euros.

All of these websites advertise themselves as “ticket marketplaces,” making a buck from sellers.

Only Ticombo, regularly displays who those sellers are.

Additionally, NGO Events, a seller, has more than 14, 000 listings on the website.

NGO Events, however, is not a trading company, according to company records. It is run by Thomas Senge, the managing director of Ticombo Switzerland.

Atle Barlaup, Senge’s chief executive, and Ticombo’s other top-selling CEO, both previously served on the boards of WorldTix, another significant Ticombo stock.

The three businesses all appear to be connected and have identical registered addresses in Engelberg, a small Swiss city.

Ticombo told us NGO Events and WorldTix are “partners of Ticombo” but adhere to “the same obligations” as other traders.

In the world of touting, Barlaup is a well-known name.

He admitted to paying cash for 820 World Cup tickets to Fifa vice-president Jack Warner in 2011 and admitted to doing so on BBC Panorama.

Ticombo said Barlaup spoke to BBC Panorama to “highlight corruption within Fifa”.

Football Ticket Net‘s history is also rife.

Although their shareholders are Israeli, they are currently based in Estonia.

Under a previous parent company – owned by one of the current shareholders – they were fined 600, 000 euros by a French court for infringing Uefa’s trademarks and selling tickets for European finals.

Despite our four successes, getting through the turnstiles is not always straightforward with resold tickets.

Numerous reports of supporters being denied entry were heard.

Crystal Palace aficionado Matt called it “wild west stuff.”

He paid £400 on a separate site – Fanpass – so his 79-year-old uncle could attend May’s FA Cup final, only for him to be turned away at the gate.

Twenty minutes prior, Wembley confirmed that a duplicate ticket had been scanned.

The seller boasted about bringing 200 additional people to the game in messages that the BBC saw.

Fanpass told us: “Our priority is to ensure that every customer is able to attend the event for which they have purchased tickets. Extremely uncommon are the instances where a customer is denied entry.

Alister, a Ticombo buyer, had a similar troubling experience.

When his ticket failed, a tout met him outside the Emirates to personally scan him in with a replacement.

Supporter of Nottingham Forest Alister had intended to play in the opposite end. He became aware that he had become one of the home fans because of his new ticket.

“The Arsenal fans didn’t want us there”, he said. It was “uncomfortable, inappropriate, and completely unacceptable.”

Using fake identities and bots, many ticket sellers purchase them. We’re not sure if any of the businesses we’ve mentioned use this method.

Some tickets carry the name of the original holder, offering clues about their origin.

Five tickets, which were purchased from “unauthorised” websites and fans shared, bear names that aren’t listed on the UK electoral open register, birth certificates from England and Wales, or social media:

According to Reg Walker, a renowned expert in ticket security, “at least a few of them seem completely synthetic.”

So-called ticket bots are another issue, even though they are against the law.

These computer programs make the official ticket purchasing procedure simpler, allowing touts to purchase multiple tickets at once.

Posing as a potential customer, we spoke to one company selling such technology.

They provided us with software specifically tailored to Tottenham’s, Chelsea, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea’s ticket distribution platforms.

The bots cost $ 2,500 per club, or $ 9,900 for a package deal.

We were told we would need valid club memberships, but the software would let us join an online ticket queue up to 25 times simultaneously with a “basic licence”.

The Premier League is already introducing new rules for digital ticketing which include the introduction of “encrypted barcodes”.

They claim that this will make it more challenging to advertise.

Two additional options Manal Smith, the former head of ticketing at Arsenal, suggested are ID verification similar to that of a bank app and a cap on how many tickets can be transferred.

The government has announced plans to cap the price of resale tickets across sectors.

However, the Football Supporters’ Association argued that lawmakers should proceed even further.

Former Labour MP Tom Greatrex, the head of the FSA, says, “There seems to be a loophole where agencies are based abroad that needs to be looked into in terms of legislation.”

Walker also believes legislation targeted at the foreign companies is the answer.

The legislation does not violate international law. A simple amendment would help to make sure that if you’re outside the UK, you don’t commit an offence.

Walker called the battle between football’s biggest clubs and ticket resellers an “arms race”.