UEFA Euro 2020 tickets: As the UEFA Euro 2020 approaches, millions of football fans across European nations and beyond are frantically searching for tickets. But with COVID-19 restrictions in place, many stadiums have been asked to reduce seating capacity to 50% or even 25%. Hence, the already postponed Euro will go ahead as planned in June 2021 but many fans who had bought tickets at least two years ago have had their tickets cancelled. But to their misery, a string of social media advertisements is claiming to be UEFA’s authorized agents and selling tickets at a whopping €1,500.
As per a report by The Athletic, the advertisements began appearing on Facebook and Twitter from May 5, claiming to guarantee seat and sponsor’s freebies. The €1,500-ticket per match is supposed to be for hospitality boxes.
UEFA Euro 2020 tickets: To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championships, the UEFA decided to host the expanded tournament in multiple cities across the continent with three million tickets on offer. However, the COVID-19 pandemic meant, UEFA had to change plans of reducing capacities across stadiums.
However, even as fans see their tickets being cancelled due to the reduced capacity, advertisements with high availability and guaranteed seats haven’t gone down well. Wembley Stadium in London, which will host seven matches including three England matches and the final, has been marked for high availability with the season ticket costing a whopping €30,400. Some tickets go up to €3,315+ VAT per head per match.
The higher the price, the availability is also listed as higher baffling fans, who have had their tickets cancelled or had lost out on a portion of the refund due to changes in currency exchange rate and bank charges.
UEFA Euro 2020 tickets: “We understand those allocations will need to be reduced because of the reduced capacities but we would still much rather those fans get the tickets. They should be in the hands of the right people who have put the time and effort in, not just who can afford them,” Matt Willis of Football Supporters Europe told The Athletic.
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The Athletic also managed to get its hands on correspondence between UEFA and its hospitality partners, confirming that they will be able to host an official hospitality programme in London with 50% capacity. That is a rude shock for fans as the 90,000-capacity stadium can only have 25% of that. It also suggests that the public allocation for the tickets could be lower and that UEFA is trying to generate as much revenue as they can through selling higher-priced hospitality tickets.
UEFA Euro 2020 tickets: Promotional giveaways puzzle football fans
That’s not it though. The reduced capacity doesn’t seem to have any impact on the conventional promotional giveaways for Euro tickets. A fan whose tickets for three matches got cancelled, received a mail for a refund, followed by an email from JustEat with a promotional “play to win” option for tickets. Many other companies including Heineken also have similar offers in-store.
“Obviously, I understand they’re going to have to cancel tickets because of COVID-19. I just don’t think they should have so many sponsorship tickets when they’re cancelling (fans’) tickets,” the fan told The Athletic.
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