The ‘Legends All-Star Game’, which attracted attention with the participation of legends from Korea, Brazil, and Italy, was suddenly canceled. It’s only about a week before the game. From the time the match location (Goyang) and ticket price were revealed, there were great doubts about its box office success, and eventually, due to financial issues, a decision was made to cancel it. Last summer, soccer-related events such as Naples and Mallorca’s visit to Korea and the Korea tour were canceled one after another, leading to continued embarrassment. The damage is entirely the responsibility of the fans.
Interpark Ticket, which had been selling tickets to the Legend Match, announced on its website on the 12th that the match had been canceled due to the organizer’s circumstances. Refunds were promised to fans who bought tickets. This match was planned by Racing City Group, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Traveling, a travel company. Traveling, a domestic company, has only deleted related posts on social media (SNS) and has not yet revealed its official position.토토사이트
Originally, the Legend All-Star Game was scheduled to be held at Goyang Stadium on the 21st. A number of legends such as Brazil’s Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Kaka, Italy’s Paolo Maldini, Francesco Totti, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Del Piero were scheduled to participate, and Korea’s Ahn Jung-hwan, Lee Woon-jae and Kim Nam-il were also scheduled to participate. It was promoted as an event in which Korea, Brazil, and Italy each formed a legend team and competed against each other once.
Since they are world-class players, fans’ expectations were also high. Every time news broke that legends would enter the country, fans would gather at Incheon International Airport. Ahn Jung-hwan, who was scheduled to participate in the tournament as a Korean legend, also could not hide his joy, saying, “I never thought I would be able to play with such world-class players before I die.”
Three soccer legends, including Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho and Italian soccer legends Cannavaro and Materazzi, held a joint press conference at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul on the morning of the 10th. Legends are talking with bright expressions, Reporter Jeong Si-jong
However, the venue for the game was set at Goyang Sports Complex, not Seoul, and the ticket price was set too high, raising loud voices of dissatisfaction among fans. Because it is a sports complex, visibility is not good, but the ticket price behind the goal, where supporters usually sit, was 80,000 won. It was more than twice as expensive as the national team A match held at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Naturally, the speed of stadium ticket reservations fell far short of expectations. Even among fans who reserved tickets directly to see the legends, there were concerns about whether it would be possible to hold the event normally. The concerns became reality. According to an official familiar with the internal situation, the expense issue was not resolved and the investment money promised by Lasing City Group was not received.
In the end, the organizers decided to cancel the legend match with just 9 days left. Fortunately, fans who have reserved tickets will receive a full refund, but fans who have already booked transportation and lodging in advance will have to bear the brunt of the damage. World-class stars who had traveled to Korea to prepare for the Legend All-Star Game also suddenly received news that the event was cancelled.
Korea Tour 2023 schedule, which was scheduled to be held in July and August. The Korea Tour, which had confirmed not only the match but also the time and location, was suddenly canceled. Photo = USG
The problem is that events in Korea that are canceled after such extensive publicity are repeated. Last summer, Napoli and Mallorca, the teams of Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in, respectively, were scheduled to visit Korea, but it was canceled due to the hosting consortium’s failure to submit the documents requested by the Korea Football Association (KFA). KFA presented strict conditions, including the financial ability of the organizer, after Cristiano Ronaldo’s so-called ‘Nalgangdu’ incident. As they failed to meet KFA’s standards, the Naples and Mallorca tours were eventually canceled. At the time, the consortium even promoted a friendly tournament with AS Roma, Wolverhampton, and Celtic in Korea in July and August, but this also fell through due to financial problems.
Furthermore, with the cancellation of this legendary match, the number of cases where it ended up as a ‘non-event’ after extensive publicity has increased. There are repeated cases where organizers who do not have the ability to hold a normal event or who are not sure about holding the event put publicity first, only to have it be canceled due to unfavorable circumstances. Some cases were even reported by foreign media, and it is also embarrassing for foreign clubs and players who tried to visit Korea but were suddenly notified of cancellation. Fans who had high expectations are also left feeling helpless and disappointed.
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