Industry News

UEFA to investigate Champions League ticket hikes

UEFA has announced it will tackle the dispute of away fans being charged inflated prices by their European counterparts.

Liverpool, whose fans will pay almost 65 per cent more than Chelsea fans for tickets against Roma, raised the issue with the European football governing body after the most recent example of an overseas club hiking their prices.

The Telegraph newspaper reports that UEFA said it will arrange a working group to investigate the reasons behind the vast price ranges in ticketing policies abroad.

Liverpool, which has led the Premier League representation on the contentious issue, will see its fans paying €73 for the Champions League semi-final away leg at Roma on May 2.

This price reflects a €28.50 increase in ticket costs since October when Chelsea played in the Stadio Olimpico during the group stage.

When the Merseyside club played against Porto in the last 16, it cost €75 for supporters travelling to Portugal. That was three times the cost that home supporters were asked to pay.

Manchester United supporters saw an increase in match ticket cost to £35 when they played Sevilla in the last 16. Following some back and forth between the clubs over the price, United decided to increase the price for the Spanish visitors to Old Trafford and used the profits to subsidise the extra cost of the own away fans.

UEFA ordered Anderlecht to refund Bayern Munich fans after over-charging by €30 for a group game in Belgium in November.

Last week, the head of Football Supporters Europe described UEFA’s ticketing policy for its Champions League and Europa League competitions as “terrible.”

The European football supporters’ group hit out at the governing body, as it looks for UEFA to extend regulations to stop clubs from inflating ticket costs for visiting fans.

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