UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin on Monday announced that fans of the participating teams at this year's club competition finals will be offered 30,000 free tickets to reward them for their support for European football during the COVID crisis.
The supporters of the finalist clubs will receive free tickets as follows: UEFA Champions League: 10,000 free tickets (5,000 tickets per club), UEFA Europa League: 8,000 free tickets (4,000 tickets per club), UEFA Europa Conference League: 6,000 free tickets (3,000 tickets per club), and UEFA Women's Champions League: 6,000 free tickets (3,000 tickets per club).
Each of the finalist clubs will be able to use these tickets to reward their most loyal supporters (i.e. longest-serving season ticket-holders, those who attended most away games, etc.), but these tickets cannot be given to sponsors, partners, or club officials.
Furthermore, UEFA has also decided to freeze the price of category 4 (EUR70) and category 3 (EUR180) tickets for the next three men's UEFA Champions League finals, in 2022, 2023, and 2024, keeping in line with the prices in place since 2020.
"UEFA is fully aware of the current inflationary situation, particularly regarding tickets for sporting events that have undergone significant price hikes over the last few years. By deciding to cap these prices for these prestigious games for at least three seasons, UEFA wishes to send a strong signal to fans and ensure that access is affordable to all," UEFA in a statement said.
UEFA will bear all costs related to this unique one-off initiative and it will not impact the financial distribution to clubs who will receive all due amounts.
Commenting on this initiative, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said: "Football fans are the lifeblood of the game and we thought it would be a nice way to recognise the difficulties they have experienced over the last two years and how they nevertheless still managed to support their teams and live their passion even when away from the stadiums."
"Fans are playing an integral part in the development of football, and we must ensure that loyal travelling supporters can attend historical moments for their cherished teams at affordable prices," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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