Liverpool attack 'unacceptable' cancellation of stolen tickets

The 1,600 Liverpool fans whose FA Cup final tickets were stolen last week will not get duplicates for Saturday's match with West Ham at the Millennium Stadium, the Football Association confirmed yesterday.

The tickets were stolen during a raid on a Royal Mail van in Liverpool last week. Police believe they will be re-sold on the black market, even though the Millennium Stadium has cancelled them.

Liverpool's chief executive, Rick Parry, condemned the stadium's decision not to issue duplicates as "totally unacceptable" and an act that "penalises ordinary supporters who have had the misfortune of being the innocent victims of a robbery."

Parry sought the FA's help in the matter, but after FA officials liaised with the stadium's Safety Advisory Group - comprising the police, fire service and Cardiff County Council - the FA said yesterday it had "no option" but to follow the SAG's advice, and so no duplicates will be issued.

That leaves the prospect of 1,600 empty Liverpool seats on Saturday, although it is probable that many of the tickets are now in the hands of fans who bought them on the black market and will try to use them.

That is the main reason the Millennium Stadium will not reissue any tickets, for fear that two people might turn up to fill each of those 1,600 places. There is no capacity at the turnstiles to check tickets electronically, and with 2,000 people entering the stadium per minute in the run-up to kick-off, turnstile handlers cannot check every single one to see whether it has been cancelled.

Instead, stadium officials inside the ground will monitor the "cancelled" seats, and anyone in possession of a stolen ticket could be arrested for handling stolen property. Police have warned fans not to buy from touts.