Liverpool Head of Club & Supporter Liaison Tony Barrett said that the decision to hold the Champions League final in Kiev "needs explaining," according to the BBC. Liverpool will face Real Madrid on May 26 at the Olympic Stadium in Ukraine. Fans have faced "soaring flight fares and inflated hotel prices," while the club was allocated 16,626 tickets. Barrett tweeted, "It suggests something in football is badly broken when the lifeblood of the game can be treated this way. ... The decision to hold the final at a location which is so difficult and so extraordinarily expensive to get to is one that needs explaining by those who made it" (BBC, 5/13).
FREE LODGING: The BBC's Pierpoint, Kondrachuk & Mushtaq reported residents of Kiev have mobilized on social media to "offer free accommodation to football fans visiting the Ukrainian capital for the Champions League final." Several Facebook groups have been set up to offer spare rooms and sofas to visiting football fans after local hotels "dramatically increased their prices." After screenshots of inflated hotel prices were "widely shared on social media" among traveling supporters, locals decided to "take matters into their own hands and open their homes to visiting fans." Victor Kylymar set up one of the biggest groups -- called "Kiev FREE couch for football fans 26/05/18." He said that he was "shocked and ashamed" when he saw how hotels "hiked up their prices" (BBC, 5/11).
