Liverpool fans have criticised the decision to hold the Europa League final at the home of Swiss champions Basel, with the club only allocated 10,236 tickets for the game against Sevilla.
After Jürgen Klopp’s side booked their place in the final with a 3-1 aggregate win over Villarreal on Thursday evening, Uefa confirmed their allocation for the match on 18 May at St Jakob-Park would be just 47% of the 35,000 capacity. The remaining tickets are divided between a “contractual supporter allocation” of 41%, which includes seasonal hospitality members and priority rights holders (former shareholders), 10% to matchday officials and players plus a final 2% to contractual partners.
Liverpool have 27,000 season ticket holders and took 32,000 to the Capital One Cup final in February. Earlier in the season, supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly wrote to Uefa to express their disappointment at the decision to hold the match in such a small stadium but “received a disappointing reply”.
“It is crystal clear that this amount tickets will not be enough to satisfy demand at Basel’s St Jakob Park Stadium. Tens of thousands of supporters will have attended every home game this season and a large number will miss out,” read a statement on their website.
“Given the poor choice of location of the final, even though it is easily accessible, supporters will struggle to find accommodation (most hotel rooms are booked already) and there is little in the way of transport out of the city after the match (there are no trains after midnight to the nearest city of Mulhouse, or to elsewhere in Switzerland). These would be issues that affect all supporters who could be faced with a final in Basel.
“We do, therefore, join the club in urging fans against making plans to avoid disappointment. Whilst it is not our place to tell supporters what to do, it is pretty clear that Basel is not best equipped to deal with such large numbers that we have witnessed in previous years.”
The Liverpool Echo also urged Uefa to “think again about abysmal plans”, although Klopp appeared less concerned when asked after the win over Villarreal.
“We’re in the final, what shall I say? It is incredible. Amazing. We go to Basel. We take 50, 60, 70 thousand Liverpudlians with us, not in the stadium but in the city. Maybe 100 thousand,” he said.
“It’s a nice city, by the way. Close to my home. Create an atmosphere... go there and enjoy it, and we will go there and try and give our best in the middle of May for this wonderful club and these wonderful fans.”
