Friday, April 18, 2008

Reds Forced To Release Final Plans

UEFA have instructed Liverpool to release ticket details for the Champions League final even before the semi-final has taken place.

Due to concerns over the processing of visa applications, European football's governing body have told all four semi-finalists to seek ticket requests from fans for the final in Moscow on May 21.

Manchester United have already made their ticket information available to their supporters and both Chelsea and Barcelona are expected to announce their plans over the coming days.

"The tickets have got to go on sale now because of UEFA visa requirements," said Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry.

"UEFA has insisted that we provide them with details the day after the second leg of the semi-final in order to process visas.

"There is no alternative for us but to start now, however uncomfortable we might feel.

"This is not the way we would prefer to do it because we do feel uncomfortable about it but we have no choice."

Liverpool have been advised they will be allocated 21,000 tickets if they progress to the final and requests for an increased number have already been rejected by UEFA.

Having been heavily criticised for the way tickets were distributed ahead of the Athens final last season, Liverpool have taken on board fans' concerns this time around.

Parry added: "All season ticket and fan card holders who have been to six Champions League games will definitely qualify for a ticket.

"And all season ticket holders who have been to five games are invited to apply for a ticket."

Supporters should note the qualifier against Toulouse and the forthcoming semi-final against Chelsea do not count as qualifying games for the final.

Parry said: "If there is a 100% take up, which there very rarely is, season ticket holders who have been to five games will have an 80% chance of getting a ticket, which is a massive improvement on last year.

"The two things that distinguish this time around from last year after taking into account the concerns of fans are that we have given priority to season ticket holders who have been to five games and we have introduced the extra step of seeking applications from fans because of the extra time that this situation has afforded us.

"Once we have received the applications they will not be taken first come first served because that would be unfair. Instead, we will have a random process.

"Having weighed up all the options and the concerns that fans had last year we feel that the system we have come up with is the best and fairest way of distributing tickets.

"But, as ever, it is unlikely that we will be able to satisfy everyone because of the allocation of tickets from UEFA."

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