MEDIA UNHAPPY WITH LIVERPOOL TRIP
The Bangkok Post football writer Tor Chittinand wrote recently about the "unprofessional" organisation of Liverpool Football Club's recent trip to Bangkok.
Chittinand writes: "I do not blame Liverpool but the organisers .. Britain's Profitable Group. The company acted like an amateur. There were very few press releases from the firm in the run-up to the game. They did not care much about promoting the match probably because tickets had been sold out."
From my own experience Profitable Group, which is actually based in Singapore and has offices in Bangkok, did act professionally. The press conference I went to was extremely well organised. It ran to time, which is exceptional as far as press conferences I have attended in Bangkok, and there was an even an accreditation process for media that wanted to cover the event. Again that's unique in my experiences here but is certainly not unusual in other parts of the world. At the time I commented to my Thai colleagues about this because I even saw a couple of journalists turned away as they hadn't applied for accreditation in advance.
As for a lack of press releases, is Chittanand asserting that the Thai media relies on these for the majority of its news? Surely not.
6 comments:
Media accreditation for football matches in Thailand is far from unique. All international games, including World Cup qualifiers and Asian Cup matches, have extremely effective accreditation systems in place as do all Asian Football Confederation run tournaments.
Although the Profitable Group is indeed Singapore based, it is run by the people behind Profitable Plots, a British company that ran into financial trouble in 2007.
Although football writers do not rely on press releases alone, accurate information from the organisers is vital if they are to do their job properly.
In this instance, the team sheets had numerous misspellings of Liverpool players' names and only included the first names of the Thai players. That, in my book, is unprofessional.
The mixed zone, where journalists can speak to the players as they head out of the stadium, was in an uncovered area with no provision for the rain that was hammering down at the time. That, in my book, is unprofessional.
Steven Gerrard featured prominently in promotional material for the Liverpool visit, although his court date was known two weeks before the match against Thailand was announced. That, in my book, is unprofessional, at best.
Khun Tor's article was peppered with comments from leading Thai football writers who were equally unimpressed by the organisation, remarks that were not pointed out in your blog.
I think you will find that the Liverpool visit here and to Singapore left a bad taste in the mouth of not just Thai journalists but dyed-in-the-wool Liverpool fans and a lot of that resentment was down to the organisers, the Profitable Group,
Anonymous, thanks for your comments.
Obviously you, Khun Tor and the two writers mentioned in the original article are speaking from your experiences. I was speaking from mine. (I'm not a sports journalist though, but have attended numerous press conferences and events here).
You're right about the Steven Gerrard statements from PG's spokesmen that, even a few days before the game, were still insisting he would be playing despite his impending court date.
If the feeling from journalists is truly as strong as you're suggesting then I suggest an email to Ian Ayre, LFC's commercial director. He has the power to decide who to work with on future tours and I am certain he would be interested to hear your experiences. (Email me at bkkandy@myway.com and I will give you his contact details, however I am sure you'll have them yourself having covered the event). He will certainly want to know about anything that has the potential to damage his club's reputation. (And I am sure it his reply might well make a good follow-up story too).
Why though, if the resentment from die hard Liverpool fans was so strong, were there no more than one or two negative follow-up comments on any of the English language forums, and none in reply to Khun Tor's article?
Note: I am not a Liverpool fan, nor do I have any connection or affiliation with Profitable Group.
We recently tried to interview Profitable Plots for in a related issue and they were less than cooperative. In fact, they put forward every barrier possible to make it hard for us, it seemed. They refused to share contact details, never returned calls - all for a story on football investment that would have promoted the game and their other sports activities.
On the game, I went along to see the spectacle. Or lack of. A bunch of unknown players sporting the numbers of Liverpool's stars (was the number 8 supposed to be Gerrard??), and then the teasing of Torres warming up for 20 minutes before coming on. One of the best attended games I have been to in Bangkok, and one with the poorest atmosphere - you could sense the fans disappointment.
The game was completely over-priced as I paid 1350 baht for a ticket in an area which has been 300 baht at most in recent years. No cover, little view, no entertainment (there could at least have been someone teaching the crowd to sing "you'll never walk alone" before the game).
Security was lax - I saw two fans run across the tracks and place themselves behind the Thai goal in the second half and no-one batted an eyelid, and my attitude to the event was confirmed when I later found out that 10 minutes into the game the gates were opened for all and sundry to walk in for free.
Completely unimpressed by both Liverpool but particularly Profitable Plots. Both groups conned the public when they were here.
Thanks for your input Gareth,
I guess I am in the minority because I've had absolutely no problems dealing with Profitable Group for this and other stories I've written for BusinessWeek Thailand.
It will be interesting to see if anyone decides to pursue any kind of action for false advertising in Thailand or Singapore, on the basis that Gerrard was used in the promotions even though it was extremely unlikely he would be coming. Do you recall the "Have you got your ticket?" ads on ESPN Star with Gerrard saying "I've got mine"?
Are you planning on writing about your experiences?
A copy of Khun Tor's story has been sent to Mr Ayre along with several comment pieces from journalists in Singapore who, like their Thai counterparts, were critical of many aspects of the Liverpool trip.
As for the lack of blogs from complaining Liverpool fans, there was also a dearth of positive reactions in the blogosphere. The fact that the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Fernando Torres' appearance with five minutes to go spoke volumes,
The fans went along fully expecting to see the stars in action and were IMHO badly shortchanged.
Anonymous .. I will try to get some follow-up comments from Liverpool FC. At the very least I think it would be interesting to hear their comments in reaction to what has been said and published.
I'm also interested to know your feelings on the ticket sales issue? Do you think it could have been handled better, or does the fact it sold out indicate the goal (pardon the pun) was achieved?
In my view this is one area that could have been significantly improved.
Your comment about fans expecting to see the stars is a valid one, so I guess you're saying that all the press releases and statements from Profitable Group prior to the event were providing false or misleading information, possibly in an attempt to sell tickets?
That was the allegation that was reported in the Liverpool Echo, although that said "Liverpool could so no wrong in Thailand" and that all the criticism came from the Singapore leg of the tour.
Like I said, I will try to get some comments from Ian Ayre about the specific Thailand allegations.
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