Arsenal and Chelsea ‘complicit in fleecing fans’ ahead of Europa League final, say supporters’ trusts

Arsenal and Chelsea fans have joined forces to criticise UEFA and their own clubs over ticket arrangements for the Europa League final in Baku later this month.

The two clubs’ respective supporters’ trusts issued a joint statement condemning both the awarding of the tie to the Azerbaijani capital and the pricing associated with the trip.

And they strongly criticised their clubs for what they described as the “outrageous” pricing of day-trip packages to the match.

The move follows a similar joint initiative by Liverpool and Tottenham fans – backed by bosses Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino – regarding the soaring cost of attending their Champions League final in Madrid.

The statement released by Arsenal and Chelsea fans criticised the awarding of the final to “one of the least accessible cities in Europe from the UK” and said allocations of under 6,000 to each team’s supporters were “laughable”.

The statement added: “Rather than subsidising travel as a gesture of thanks for their support, which the clubs could certainly afford, both Arsenal and Chelsea are complicit in fleecing fans with the outrageous £979 day trips both clubs are operating, through ‘official partner’ Thomas Cook.”

The statement called for dialogue with UEFA with regard to future principles, including a cap on ticket prices, a fair allocation of tickets and flexibility over the choice of final venue at least until the quarter-final stage.

In response to initial criticism on Friday, UEFA issued a statement in which it said the respective ticket allocations were due to the infrastructure surrounding the final venue.

The statement read: “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.”