The body that represents European football supporters has urged UEFA to reconsider its ticketing allocations and prices for Euro 2020.
Earlier this week, the governing body announced its ticketing plans for the tournament, with prices for the competition starting at €30 (£26/$34) in three of the 12 host cities and €50 in the others.
Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said in a statement yesterday (Wednesday) that while it praised UEFA’s move to adopt a “fans first” ticketing policy – which will see more than 80 per cent of passes going to the general public – tickets are still too expensive and not enough have been allocated to the “right” fans.
While it hailed the revamped ticket resale platform, as well as the improvements made on the waiting-list system and reduction of prices for disabled fans, the FSE said the ticketing plan’s “negatives are just as numerous” as its positives.
Although it welcomed the governing body’s decision to split the tournament’s 12 cities into two price clusters based on average incomes, it pointed to inconsistencies, such as Russia being considered among the richest nations.
It said the lack of a “fourth, cheaper ticket category” for games up to the semi-finals “is also a concern.” During the Euro 2016 tournament in France, the cheapest ticket cost €25 – half the €50 price tag in nine of the 12 cities in 2020.
FSE fans’ embassy division director Michael Gabriel said: “The budget of fans has not doubled in four years, so it is disappointing to learn UEFA has decided to effectively double prices for those who can only afford to purchase tickets from the bottom category.”
FSE added: “Just as problematic is the low allocation given to national associations and fans for certain games – in some cases, the allocation is as low as 17 per cent of the overall stadium capacity.
“While this represents a slight improvement on Euro 2016, it still falls short of our expectations. We invite UEFA to reconsider the allocation split for these games and, depending on demand, raise them accordingly.”
The governing body for international football has made 13,000 tickets available for the final for €95, priced in its “fan first” category. Fans traveling to London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium for the decisive game will see the next category pricing jump to €295, then €595 and finally a whopping €945.
The Euro 2020 application window will be open for a month from June 12 to July 12, and all tickets will be allocated through a lottery. UEFA said the majority of tickets would be allocated during this application phase.
Image: DoubleJack92
Share this