Arsenal Hits At UEFA Over Europa League Ticket Allocations
Asenaal have vented their anger at UEFA for allocating just 6000 tickets in the Europa League final.
The final is scheduled to be held in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan on 29th May where the Gunners face their London rivals, Chelsea. A number of problems have already started to cripple the club and there is also uncertainty over the distribution of the tickets.
There are no direct flights from London to Baku which has been one of the main concerns. The club has already requested UEFA to make necessary security arrangements to ensure the safety of Henrikh Mkhitaryan who happens to be an Armenian citizen.
Azerbaijan doesn’t have a diplomatic relationship with Armenia so it remains to be seen whether the player gets the nod or not.
An official Arsenal statement read: “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 May 29.
“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.”