And while we’re at it...

NO doubt when the International Tennis Federation negotiates broadcast rights for the Davis Cup, much is made of the unique atmosphere in the arena. Raucous, passionate, it is completely removed from the staid mood around every other tennis tournament and fees will be inflated accordingly. The ITF can demonstrate how well the colour and noise will come across on television, so should be grateful indeed to the fans who make this wonderful event. Instead, they rip them off. At the Flanders Expo in Ghent, where Great Britain played Belgium, supporters could only purchase food and drink using a Davis Cup card. It cost one euro to issue — an administration charge for an unnecessary level of administration, the pure invention of the organisers — and more each time money was put on. Any surplus left at the end of the event could not be refunded. Yet the Davis Cup card was not the only form of payment accepted at some outlets. Official merchandise could be purchased with cash — and they took cash at the toilets where it cost half a euro to pee. Some football clubs, such as Bayern Munich and Ajax, have also adopted the card system, and for seasonticket holders, it is no great inconvenience. Yet the Davis Cup final is a one-off occasion for many. They will have been first- and last-time visitors, attending only because the final came to their area. They cheered and danced and made a show the ITF could sell around the world. And then they went outside and the same people mugged them at the bar. There’s gratitude for you. LORD COE will appear before a Parliamentary Select Committee today where talk may turn to the award of the 2021 IAAF World Championships to Eugene, Oregon, home of Nike. As Coe was on Nike’s payroll and a senior official at the IAAF when the decision was made, he is implicated in a process that now seems less than transparent. Coe has justified the decision by talking it up as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ‘This was unique,’ he said. ‘It did have to be grabbed, and it probably wasn’t coming round again.’ Really? The location known as Tracktown, USA, would never reapply to host the athletics world championship, or could not submit to an open bidding process, in competition with other cities? It is another of Coe’s statements that do not add up. There have been quite a lot of them lately. JUST four clubs in the Premier League era have been stranded on five points after 14 games. Swindon Town, 1993-94 (finished on 30 points, relegated); Sunderland, 2005-06 (finished on 15 points, relegated); Queens Park Rangers, 2012-13 (finished on 25 points, relegated); and now Aston Villa. Worse, though, are the doomed clubs that were doing better than Villa at the same stage in the season. Derby County had six points after 14 games in 2007-08, but ended the campaign with 11, the lowest total of modern times. Bradford City had seven points from 14 matches in 2000-01, but went down with 26, and a year earlier Watford had 10 from 14 but finished with 24. Incredibly, two of the Premier League’s poorest performers were on course to stay up at this stage in their relegation seasons. In 2002-03, Sunderland had 14 points from 14 games and were outside the bottom three. They added just five more to that total and went down on 19. Wolves were also averaging a point per game in 2011-12 and were 16th after 14 matches. They went down with 25 points five months later. Some may view this optimistically. For Villa, there is always a chance that a rival could collapse, as Sunderland and Wolves did, affording an unlikely escape. More realistically, it shows the heights Villa have to climb. Chelsea are finding this, too. They have arrested their slide, taking four out of six points, but it has only moved them from 16th to 14th place. It is perilously slow progress up the league once the table has been established, as there will always be other winners in the vicinity. Villa are only three victories away from being out of the relegation places, but as well as needing a winning streak that the club have not achieved since April 2010, this would also require Sunderland, Bournemouth and Newcastle to pick up zero points before Boxing Day. And at least two of those teams are in better nick than Villa right now.