UEFA are at it again
Arsenal and Chelsea will play the UEFA Europa League final on June 29 in Baku's Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, of the 64,000 capacity, only
12,000 tickets will be sold to supporters of the two clubs.
According to the UEFA, they have put 37,500 to a ballot for the 'football family' and 12,000 split evenly between Arsenal and Chelsea. The destination of the remaining 14,500 tickets is for commercial partners and corporate hospitality.
That means just 6,000 tickets will be available to fans of the two clubs actually contesting the final.
In a statement, UEFA has attempted to explain the minuscule ticket allocations, which, unsurprisingly, have been heavily criticised. It reads:
"Based on UEFA's recent experience with UEFA Europa League finals and the UEFA Super Cup in comparable venues the number of finalists' supporters requesting tickets for a UEFA Europa League final can vary greatly from club to club.
"Of course, 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.
"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, with Baku as the main hub.
"Offering more tickets to fans of the participating teams, without any guarantee that they would be able to arrange suitable travel to reach Baku, was therefore not a responsible option.
"Based on these circumstances, for this year's UEFA Europa League final in Baku, 6,000 tickets have been made available to each of the finalists."
Arsenal stated on Thursday that they are in discussions with UEFA over adding to their allocation. An increase, however, appears unlikely to be granted.
