This season has seen a dramatic rise in ticket prices for away fans, culminating with FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain fans being charged 100 Euros in the group stage for their fixtures against Anderlecht.
Manchester United fans, meanwhile, have been charged the same for their upcoming fixture at Seville.
The worrying trend currently observed in the ticketing policy of some European clubs for their away sections requires a reinforcement of UEFA regulations, taking into consideration the interests of all active supporters and the overall cost of travelling abroad for an away supporter, as well as a general rethinking of pricing for European Club Competitions tickets.
On 12 February UEFA announced that RSC Anderlecht were fined by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) for a breach of UEFA regulations (Article 19 – Paragraph 3 of the UEFA Safety and Security Regulations), which specifies:
“Unless the associations or clubs concerned agree otherwise, the price of tickets for supporters of the visiting team must not exceed the price paid for tickets of a comparable category that are sold to supporters of the home team.”
RSC Anderlecht was ordered to contact FC Bayern München within 15 days to compensate their supporters with an amount of 30€ per ticket to those away fans located in the upper tier section.
Even though we welcome this decision as a milestone event in the acknowledgement of the rights of away fans, now is the time for a broader change in the pricing policy in the European Cup Competitions for away fans, and we are calling on all European football clubs to support us in this matter.
We are asking UEFA to amend and clarify Article 19 – Paragraph 3 of its Safety and Security Regulations at the earliest possible opportunity to prevent clubs from using loopholes in the regulation, for example by charging regular season ticket holders or members much less than away fans. As loyal home fans should be awarded as well, the most effective way to make the regulation as fan-friendly as possible would be to change the regulation´s wording to: “The price of tickets for supporters of the visiting team must be the same price as the cheapest tickets available for home fans in the respective categories (adults / concessions)”
We are also calling on UEFA to continue to enforce its regulation by obliging clubs to compensate the affected fans in case of a breach of the ticketing regulation. It demonstrates UEFA takes into account the level of dedication demonstrated by away fans and can increase the presence of away supporters in substantial numbers, which would only add to the spectacle and atmosphere at matches.
We further call on all clubs playing in European competition to take the purchasing power of the respective country of the visiting team into account, therefore encouraging more people to travel from countries with lower wages and salaries.
If your organisation / fan groups support this statement and want to sign up on it, please mail to info@fanseurope.org.
#FairPriceForAwayFans