Champions League In Athens continued

Of course the biggest news this week is the Champions League final.
It seems that wherever you turn there is a kid walking down picturesque Ermou with a soccer ball or loud fans sharing a beer (either drinking them or just sloshing it all over the place).
They reckon that around 50,000 fans have decended from Italy and the UK to watch the event, thing is many of them have arrived with no tickets, hoping to purchase them here on the black market. Apparently this is making the black market go into overdrive with prices reaching at least 3 times marked value. Good news if you managed to be lucky enough to snag a ticket as this means you can now put that down payment on that house you wanted to buy.


Speaking of fans, as i mentioned yesterday a lot of the Liverpuddlian fans are sleeping outdoors, in Syntagma square and in a number of the other squares and parks surrounding Athens. I also saw a few of them selling a variety of Liverpool shirts at the flea market and on the streets over the weekend.
Now of course the Greek economy relies on tourism, but the way i see it these fans are not doing much to boost the economy. The government here is not doing anything to make the situation any better. All i am saying is try sleeping on a park bench in Italy, you can't because the Carabinieri will move you on. Try entering Israel without proof of a hotel booking. You cannot, and of course they are doing a lot better than Greece.

The symbolically striking Police have also struck upon an interesting idea, Paintballing, and they aren't for recreational use. Police officers will be using the paintball guns to shoot hooligans in the event that there are any clashes between fans. It is hoped that once marked the suspects can be arrested by police later on.

Hmmmm

Like i said an interesting idea but i have my doubts over how practical it is.