Blue_Wes
Simple Minded
The format is likely to be awful and costly for fans. With tournaments we expect to be stung on flights, sadly, the airlines are on England games pretty quickly, and once fixtures are announced, prices rocket. So when heading to tournaments, there is an expectation to pay over the odds on flights to the hosting country and back. Once there though, it's relatively easy to base yourself in one place and travel locally between host cities, Ukraine we got a £20 train between Donestsk and Kiev for example. However with this multination format, it potentially trebles the cost of the travelling fans. We'll now, again potentially, have to arrange flights to three different destinations, being stung by the 'savvy' airlines pricing to benefit from the footballing fans. Not to mention the logistics of moving yourself around, most will find it hard to arrange connecting flights from say Baku, to St. Petersberg, so will end up coming home to go out - breaking up a footballing holiday, and making it a stress and a more of a chore than a leisure activity. There's little opportunity to base yourself in one place to travel. And should we advance, then the last sixteen again, is another opportunity for the airlines to benefit.
The FA don't support the fans in this respect either, as they employ Thompson as their official travel partner, who like the FA simply look to fleece the fans. The FA really should put this partnership out to tender to find a company that will offer the fans the best deal, but as with every aspect of the FA, the fans are bottom of the list, instead employing the biggest profile company that will earn them plentiful in sponsorship.
