Champions League: Fans of four Premier League clubs write joint letter to Uefa to demand improvements

Uefa have been criticised for poor fan experiences at both the Europa League and Champions League finals last season

Supporter groups from four Premier League clubs have written to Uefa to demand better fan experiences at major European finals.

Ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League group stage draw, the Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Supporters Trusts, along with Liverpool’s ‘Spirit of Shankly’ group, have made a six point list of demands after troubles last season.

Chelsea and Arsenal supporters had to travel nearly 5,000 miles to Baku in Azerbaijan if they wanted to watch their team in the Europa League final, while Liverpool and Tottenham supporters criticised the cost of tickets, travel and accommodation, as well as the limited ticket allocations, for the Champions League final in Madrid.

“Reaching a Uefa Champions League or Europa League final should be a wonderful experience for supporters,” the groups said in a joint statement.

“Instead, they can face a struggle just to attend the match.

“Problems range from inadequate numbers of tickets to all-but-impossible travel arrangements. Too often fans were left out of pocket or not able to attend at all.

“We call upon Uefa to strengthen its dialogue with fans and request that they start by engaging with groups like ourselves to discuss the proposals we have put forward to improve arrangements.”

This year’s finals are due to be held in Istanbul, Turkey (Champions League) and Gdansk, Poland (Europa League) respectively.

Uefa said this summer that they were contemplating restricting the major finals to a limited number of big stadiums in Europe.

However, the four groups have drawn up a more comprehensive list of adjustments. Their suggestions are:

• make 80 per cent of tickets available to the two finalists.
• use only stadiums with capacities of 60,000 or greater for the Europa League final and 75,000 for the Champions League final.
• make ticket pricing fair and affordable.
• choose accessible venues which have not been subject to any Uefa charges for bad treatment of fans for at least 24 months prior to the final.
• allocate finals to cities with excellent transport links and sufficient hotel capacity.
• ensure the host country abides by a human-rights and equality policy.

The Europa League final was held in Baku, Azerbaijan (Reuters)

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin defended the decision to hold the Europa League final in Baku in June, and suggested that English supporters do not help themselves with their repeated complaints.

The Champions League draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday, August 29. Proceedings will begin at about 5pm.