August 29 – Supporters groups of four English Premier League clubs have jointly submitted a list of demands to UEFA covering ticket allocation and venue choice following complaints surrounding last season’s Champions League and Europa League finals.
A joint letter by Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, Spirit of Shankly and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust came up with an action plan “to improve the supporter experience.”
Liverpool met spurs in the Champions League final and Chelsea beat Arsenal in the two all-English finals but there was considerable consternation over the way UEFA arranged both finals.
The clubs’ supporters called for an 80% allocation of tickets to be made available to finalists, wherever they come from, after Liverpool and Spurs were allocated only 16,613 tickets each for the Champions League showpiece at Atletico Madrid’s 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Suggestions were also made to choose more practical stadiums for finals and to keep ticket prices affordable. Arsenal and Chelsea fans struggled to get to Baku for the Europa League final due to a lack of direct flights to Azerbaijan’s capital.
“Reaching a Champions League or Europa League final should be a wonderful experience for a club’s supporters – instead, they can face a struggle just to attend the match,” said the fans’ statement. “Too often fans who had supported their clubs in every round up to the final were left out of pocket or not able to attend the final at all.”
“We call upon UEFA to strengthen its dialogue with fans and request that they start by engaging with groups such as ourselves to discuss the proposals to improve arrangements for fans at the final stages of the Champions and Europa Leagues,” the letter added saying a copy had been sent to the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSE). “
Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea are in the Champions League again this season with Arsenal in the Europa League. All four are in the respective group stage draws taking place today and tomorrow.
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