Supporters’ Trust get backing to demand UEFA final changes

The organisation of both the Champions League finals and the Europa League finals which took place a little over a month ago left a lot to be desired.

Only 17,000 tickets each were provided by UEFA to Liverpool and Spurs to pass on to their supporters according to The BBC.

Even those fans had to bare flight costs of more than £1,000 to reach Madrid while hotel expenses were also quite high.

The Europa League final which was held in Baku was even more of a disaster, with the match being played in front of thousands of empty seats.

The Evening Standard reported last week that fan groups from all four English clubs involved in the final have come together to produce a six-point plan urging UEFA to improve arrangements for major European finals.

Now The BBC reports that the Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which represents football supporters from across Europe, has accepted the proposal made by the four clubs’ fan groups, and that the proposals will now be taken to UEFA.

Here is the six-point plan in full according to the above report:

Allocations: 80% of the total number of tickets for the finals should be made available to the supporters of the two competing teams (40% each) with the remaining 20% to be for sponsors, the football family, key stakeholders and a small general sale or ballot.

Affordability: Pricing for the finals should be fair and affordable, with at least 45% of general admission tickets priced at the lowest category of 70 euros (2019 prices). There could be a stretch pricing policy so there is a choice for fans.

Capacity: Only stadiums with sufficiently large capacities should be selected. This would allow more tickets to be made available for the fans of both teams as well as the football family. It is proposed the ideal capacity for a Champions League final is in the region of 75,000 or greater, and for the Europa League final in the region of 55,000 or greater.

Accessibility and facilities: Any stadium considered must have the highest standards on accessibility for people with disabilities including travel access to the stadium. Any stadium considered must also have sufficient food and drink outlets and washrooms for all supporters, the ability to operate an e-ticketing system and not have been subject to a UEFA charge for treatment of fans or crowd management within the last 24 months at the time of selection.

Infrastructure: Final venues should be cities with excellent transport links, including capacity to deal with many additional charter flights and, ideally, good rail links to other cities and airports within reasonable travel distance. There should also be bed space capacity to deal with an extremely high number of visitors.

Equality: Host countries should apply no discrimination of any kind to any player or to supporters who wish to travel to the final. Countries staging finals should guarantee to abide by a human rights and equality policy that includes ensuring no discrimination or restriction on entry is applied to any player or supporter.

Spurs Web Opinion

For a long time now, UEFA have displayed a complete disregard for the average match-going fans, who are the heartbeat of these football clubs. It’s about time that they listened to fans and implemented their proposals.

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