LONDON — Soccer fans condemned Friday the rising cost of ticket prices for the UEFA Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium on May 28 as “absolutely outrageous.”
The cheapest seats on general sale will come to $240 (£150) plus a $41.60 (£26) administration fee, while the cheapest tickets available through the clubs will be $128 (£80).
Fans leader Malcolm Clarke said the high costs “take ticket pricing to an absurdly stratospheric new level,” after European soccer’s governing body UEFA admitted the 2011 tickets will be the most expensive ever in the competition’s history.
“In a difficult economic climate, not only in [the UK] but across Europe where supporters may be coming from, this represents disgraceful exploitation of fans,” Clarke said. “The £26 administration fee represents the cherry on a particularly disgusting cake. There is absolutely no way of justifying such a high fee and UEFA [bosses] should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
At the ticket launch at London’s City Hall, UEFA’s director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti denied the final was overpriced when compared to similar events.
“We do not want to squeeze every single penny out of the market. We have to benchmark this event against other comparable events like for example the final of the Euros and the World Cup,” Marchetti said, adding “Last year there was already a significant increase compared to the previous editions but it’s nothing to do with being in London and it still priced below comparable events.”
UEFA announced that 11,000 tickets will be available on general sale at $480, $360 and $240, with wheelchair entry costing $128. A certain number of $128 tickets will be available among the 25,000 allocated to each club in the final.
UEFA expects income from the Champions League final to top $22.4 million, $4.8 million more than last year’s final in Madrid.
Read more: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_6758944,00.html