ARSENAL SAY THEY are “bitterly disappointed” by their ticket allocation for the Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku. They have been granted just 6,000 tickets, which is less than 10% of the stadium’s capacity.
Chelsea have been given the same number of tickets, and Uefa explained that they considered the accessibility of Baku in determining the size of the fans’ allocation.
“It is impossible to predict in advance which clubs will reach the final, while the venue has to be chosen around two years in advance”, a Uefa statement read.
“Taking into consideration the above and, most importantly, the geographical location and logistical capacity of airports in and around the host city, it was deemed that around 15,000 spectators would be able to travel from abroad.”
Arsenal, however, have today issued a statement stating their disappointment with the ticketing situation and called on Uefa to clarify their criteria for the selection of cities to host major finals.
“Everyone at Arsenal is delighted to have reached the Uefa Europa League final and we are all very much looking forward to the match against Chelsea on Wednesday 29 May”, their statement read.
“However, we are bitterly disappointed by the fact that due to transport limitations Uefa can only make a maximum of 6,000 tickets available to Arsenal for a stadium with a capacity of well over 60,000. Time will tell if it is even possible for 6,000 Arsenal fans to attend the match, given how extreme the travel challenges are.
We have 45,000 season-ticket holders and for so many fans to miss out due to Uefa selecting a final venue with such limited transport provision is quite simply not right. The reality is that whoever reached the final would not be able to meet demand from their supporters. We have received many complaints from our fans about this and we fully share their concerns.
“On behalf of our fans, we would like to understand the criteria by which venues are selected for finals, and also how supporter requirements are taken into account as part of this.
“Moving forward we would urge Uefa to ensure that supporter logistics and requirements are a key part of any future decisions for final venues as what has happened this season is unacceptable, and cannot be repeated. We would be happy to join any future discussions to avoid this situation happening again.”
