Sir Sadiq Khan has received £9,000 worth of free tickets to watch Liverpool FC since becoming the Mayor of London, it has been revealed. The tickets included seats for two of the Reds’ three Champions League final appearances during the period.
The Labour politician’s visit to Madrid, Spain, to see Liverpool’s win in the 2019 final over Tottenham Hotspur reportedly cost £1,200, with the tickets gifted by UEFA and £200 return flights paid for Liverpool. Tickets to Liverpool’s 2022 defeat to Real Madrid in Paris, France, cost £1,173 and were also subsidised by UEFA. A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the Express: “Gifts accepted are declared openly and transparently in keeping with the GLA [Greater London Authority] gifts and hospitality code.”
Sir Sadiq has accepted the equivalent of £1,000-a-year in free tickets to see the Premier League champions in 17 matches during his nine years as London Mayor, according to The Sun, which broke the story.
Other gifted tickets included finals at Wembley and a game between Fulham and Aston Villa.
All of the tickets were declared by the Mayor on his register of interests as necessary for “stakeholder engagement” reasons.
News about the freebies has prompted the criticism of London’s Conservative leader Susan Hall. She told The Sun: “You’d think he could pay for the tickets himself.
“Labour spent a long time criticising anyone who took freebies, but are doing it themselves.”
Sir Sadiq, who is from south London, is a lifelong Liverpool fan.
In July, he was cleared of wrongdoing after accepting tickets worth around £3,000 for a Taylor Swift concert in August 2024.