Cheapest public seat for final to cost £163
EUROPEAN chiefs last night defended ticket prices for the Champions League final after revealing that the general public will have to pay £163, at the very least, to attend the Wembley showdown in May.
Governing body Uefa has set aside 11,000 tickets for general release, with prices ranging from £150 to £300. Fans are limited to buying a maximum of two tickets and all purchases will be subject to a hefty £26 administration fee.
Someone, therefore, wishing to purchase two Category Three tickets would incur a cost of £326 at £163 per ticket. The prices for the cheapest tickets on offer represent a significant 13 percent hike for a comparable seat at last year’s final in Madrid. Clubs that reach the final will receive an allocation of 25,000 tickets each, priced at £80, to sell on to their supporters.
But Uefa’s director of competitions, Giorgio Marchetti, said the prices were in line with other high-profile events such as the World Cup final.
He said: “We don’t think that the Champions League final is overpriced. We do not want to squeeze every single penny out of the market.
“We have to benchmark this event against other comparable events, like for example the final of the European Championship and the World Cup.
“Last year there was already a significant increase compared to the previous editions but it’s nothing to do with being in London and it is still priced below comparable events.”