In December UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin discussed the issue of fans being charged high ticket prices for European games and declared: "It would be good to do something to cap prices."
Clearly those hollow words haven't been put into action given Barcelona are charging United fans £102 to watch their team in the Nou Camp in next month's Champions League quarter-final second leg. It's a scandalous price for a 90-minute game of football, especially when those travelling fans will have already paid out for flights, hotel rooms, Estrella and tapas.
United fans have suffered more than most with price hikes. They were charged £89 to watch their team at Sevilla last season and £77 at Valencia back in December. Now Barcelona have broken the £100 barrier. It's a century nobody should be proud of.
Ceferin was asked about the problem at the end of 2018 and his comments made for a nifty soundbite for UEFA.
"We know about the problem," he said. "It would be good to do something to cap prices.
Manchester United fans hit out at greedy Barcelona and call for UEFA to take action
"It’s absolutely not correct that that away fans are being charged five times more than the local ones.
"The clubs are using tricks to go around the regulations, so maybe the solution is to say what is the highest prices that can be charged to away fans.
"Football is played for the fans - if the fans are treated improperly or not the same as the home fans, that’s simply wrong."
Some UEFA bigwigs will have been unable to contain their sniggering at Ceferin's "football is played for the fans" line. Those very same fans who will struggle to attend the Champions League final because of decisions made by the governing body.
Last month UEFA revealed their ticket prices for the Champions League final in Madrid on June 1. The cheapest come in at €70 (£60), the next at €160 (£139), category two tickets are €450 (£391) and the top price tickets are €600 (£521). Presumably you get a seat on the bench for that sort of price.
How can UEFA turn around to Barcelona and tell them off for charging £102 fans, when barely any of the tickets available for their showpiece final are priced under that? Expecting your average fan to pay £521 for a Champions League final ticket shows there is no end to football's greed. The game is eating itself whole and still looking for a dessert.
Barcelona explain truth behind 'excessive' Manchester United ticket prices
That's before we come on to the ticket allocation for the final. The Estadio Metropolitano has a capacity of 63,500, but each finalist will receive just 17,000 tickets. A further 4,000 will be sold to fans via UEFA's website, leaving a total of 25,500 tickets in the hands of UEFA fat cats, sponsors and the like. Expect many to end up on the black market.
In terms of business sense UEFA can make a supply and demand argument. Fans will pay those prices, probably more, so why not charge those outrageous fees for the final? That is an argument that spectacularly misses the point. Football isn't about getting the wealthiest fans in the ground, it's about opening the game up to all supporters, not discriminating them based on disposable income.
Football fans are being taken for granted, especially fans as passionate as United's, who will do all they can to see their team live. Barcelona's prices for the Nou Camp return are a scandal, but complaining to UEFA will make no difference. They're not the solution, they're part of the problem.
Manchester United fans slam Barcelona over UEFA Champions League ticket decision
