Fan group criticises Europa League final ticketing

Fans’ group Football Supporters Europe has criticised Uefa’s allocation of 12,000 tickets per club for the Europa League final at Aviva Stadium.

English clubs Liverpool and West Ham have reached the Europa League quarter-finals and could meet in the final on 22 May.

“A paltry 50% of capacity for Europa League finalist clubs is, simply, not good enough,” said FSE.

“[It] falls well short of FSE’s demand to provide at least 66% of tickets for all European finals to supporters of the teams involved.

“Fans of competing teams need to be given clear priority over public sale options.

“Based on previous experiences, a higher allocation of tickets for general sale will significantly fuel black market ticket activity, exploiting fans’ loyalty in the process.”

European football’s governing body Uefa said it made its decision “after extensive discussions with the local authorities regarding logistical operations as well as the designated access routes to the ends of the stadium occupied by supporters of each of the finalists”.

Uefa will be selling a further 12,000 tickets for the Europa League final via its ticketing portal.

In March, Uefa general secretary Theodore Theodoridis said it “would be extremely challenging” to accommodate supporters if clubs with bigger fanbases reached the Europa League final.

This season’s Champions League finalists will receive a combined 58% allocation of 25,000 tickets each for the match at Wembley on 1 June.

In 2022, Uefa apologised after Liverpool fans were teargassed before the Champions League final in Paris.

Uefa and French authorities initially blamed ticketless fans for the events.

However, an independent report found Uefa bore “primary responsibility” for the scenes that led to kick-off being delayed by 36 minutes.

There was also criticism of the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul, with fans reportedly having to walk extended distances along busy roads, queue for hours for transport to and from the stadium and being left without water before Manchester City beat Inter Milan.