{"id":6002,"date":"2026-05-06T17:09:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/6002\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:09:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:09:06","slug":"melbourne-fans-shut-out-as-federation-square-axes-fifa-world-cup-screenings-over-safety-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/6002\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne fans shut out as Federation Square axes FIFA World Cup screenings over safety concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federation Square in Melbourne \u201cwill not show any\u201d Australia men\u2019s national soccer team matches on the big screen during next month\u2019s FIFA World Cup, \u201cciting previous issues with unruly supporters in a decision that has left fans screaming foul,\u201d according to Athos Sirianos of the Melbourne HERALD SUN. The venue offered viewings for previous tournaments, but the decision to discontinue doing so comes \u201cafter a spate of incidents at viewings\u201d during the 2022 Men\u2019s and 2023 Women\u2019s World Cups, when \u201cdozens of flares were lit and several fans were injured and fined by police.\u201d Melbourne Arts Precinct CEO Katrina Sedgwick said that the decision \u201cwas made due to the \u2018behaviour of a small number of people at previous screenings which was simply unacceptable and damaging to Fed Square.\u2019\u201d In response, Football Supporters Association Australia Chair Patrick Clancy \u201cslammed the decision to rob fans a chance to support their nation at the \u2018best place\u2019 for a World Cup live site\u201d (Melbourne HERALD SUN, 5\/6<\/a>).<\/p>\n

IN HOLLYWOOD: In L.A., Jad El Reda noted the L.A. organizing committee for the World Cup announced on Monday the details of the 10 official fan zones that will \u201cbe set up at locations throughout the L.A. region\u201d during the 39-day tournament. These venues \u201cwill complement the start of the tournament\u201d following the opening of L.A.\u2019s FIFA Fan Festival, scheduled for June 11\u201314 at the Coliseum, which \u201cwill serve as a central gathering point for fans.\u201d The goal is to \u201ctransform the city into an extended celebration of the World Cup.\u201d Match broadcasts in the fan zones \u201cwill be available via Fox and Telemundo.\u201d The L.A. committee \u201curged fans to plan their travel in advance, highlighting the Metro public transit system as the most convenient option for getting to both FanFest and the various Fan Zones located throughout the region\u201d (L.A. TIMES, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

IN THE SIX: In Toronto, Daniyah Yaqoob wrote Toronto\u2019s FIFA Fan Festival, originally touted by Mayor Olivia Chow and other officials \u201cas the free alternative<\/a> to buying stadium tickets, became a battleground after the city proposed a $10 general admission fee for attendees in order to cover costs for crowd control, safety and additional event activities.\u201d Ultimately, it was decided that general admission to the event \u201cwould remain free for most attendees, with some VIP tickets sold at tiered prices.\u201d Tickets \u201cwill be available online-only starting Wednesday.\u201d The fan fest will begin on June 11 and run until July 19 at Fort York and The Bentway in Toronto. Free general-admission tickets can \u201cbe reserved online starting Wednesday at 10 a.m.,\u201d through Toronto\u2019s fan fest website (TORONTO STAR, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federation Square in Melbourne \u201cwill not show any\u201d Australia men\u2019s national soccer team matches on the big screen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7285,7061,260,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-6002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-melbourne","8":"tag-fan-experience","9":"tag-fifa","10":"tag-melbourne","11":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}