Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Liverpool FC Supporters’ Fury Over Cost Of Europa Match Ticket

Angry Liverpool FC fans have written to Europe’s governing body of football in protest at the “exorbitant” match ticket prices for the Europa League game in the Czech Republic tomorrow night.

Fans paid £145 for a single ticket for the match against AC Sparta Prague, which will be played at the Generali Arena.

Fans group Spirit of Shankly (SOS) has written a formal complaint to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on behalf of its members.

SOS believes travelling Liverpool supporters who have paid £145 have been asked to stump up at least another £30 more than the home supporters have done for similar seats, which counters UEFA’s rules.

SOS spokesman James McKenna said: “We have submitted a complaint to them because it goes against their rules and it is not acceptable for fans to have to pay £145 for a ticket.

“We copied Liverpool FC into the complaint that we sent to UEFA, but we have not heard anything from either of them yet.

“We found that home supporters were paying a maximum of £115 for their tickets – that is £30 less than what the Liverpool fans have to pay [for their maximum priced ticket].”

The fans group investigated the regulations around ticket pricing and noted that UEFA state: “Unless the associations or clubs concerned agree otherwise, the price of tickets for supporters of the visiting team must not exceed the price paid for tickets of a comparable category that are sold to supporters of the home team.”

Initially, the Anfield club received an allocation of 955 tickets priced at £54 each. A further 100 priced at £145 were later made available.

Daniel Nicolson, who bought a ticket for £54 in the away allocation, told the Daily Post: “What I paid was an extortionate price as it was, especially in a country where the price of living is lower than the UK.

“It seems that because we are Liverpool fans, they have increased the amount of the ticket prices.”

He added: “My flight was £125 and my hotel was fairly cheap.

“No one was expecting it to be dear, but the ticket prices have caught everyone out.”

A Liverpool FC spokesman said last night: “We have written to UEFA to express our concerns because the prices have increased solely because Liverpool is in town. We have not had a reply.

“UEFA regulations say they are allowed to set their own ticket prices. They are substantially higher than previous games in the same competition, and we share the concerns.

“The regulations say that like for like tickets should be put at the same price.”

Mr. McKenna added: “Having to pay that amount of money just shows how far it is out of touch with reality. People are struggling to keep their jobs and they are playing on our loyalty.”

SOS is concerned with the increase in ticket prices for supporters, and has been contacted by many of its members to ask what it can do.

At last Saturday’s annual general meeting, a plan to campaign against higher ticket prices was under discussion.

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