Dhe fans of FC Bayern Munich protested against what they saw as excessive ticket prices for the Champions League game at Viktoria Pilsen (4:2) and heavily criticized the Czech club. “The cheapest day ticket costs 70 euros, which corresponds to a price increase of 500% compared to the usual price level of Viktoria Pilsen in the league,” said a joint statement on Wednesday by the ultra umbrella association Club No. 12 and the groups of the southern curve. “It’s disrespectful how the fans’ pockets are grabbed here.”
Completely overpriced ticket prices in the Champions League are a constant theme. The European Football Union UEFA has therefore introduced an absolute upper price limit of 70 euros for the cheapest guest category. “This upper price limit ignores the reality of life for the fans, it is set far too high,” criticized the fan groups. Football needs socially acceptable ticket prices “in order to live up to its own claim of being for all fans. The fans will have their last penny taken out of their pockets.”
The simple answer is an upper price limit, “which is clear and simple, meets the requirements of Respect Fans and gives all fans from all social classes and from all European countries access to the most beautiful game.” The upper price limit should be set from 70 to 20 euros , because “Twenty is plenty! (Twenty is enough)”.
The ticket prices for the Champions and Europa League were only capped at 70 euros and 45 euros in 2019. Accordingly, the tickets in the lowest category may not exceed this price. In the previous season, there had been more and more protests from fans, including those from FC Bayern, because the ticket prices were too high.
At the time, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: “The fans are the lifeblood of football. Those accompanying their team to away games need to be able to purchase tickets at reasonable prices, especially as they already have to pay for their travel expenses. By capping ticket prices, we want to ensure that fans can still afford to travel to away games and thus contribute to the unique atmosphere in football stadiums.”
But at the beginning of this year, Club No. 12 had again complained about the high ticket prices in the Champions League. For the round of 16 in Salzburg, Bayern fans in the lower tier would have had to pay twice as much as the Salzburg fans in the fan block, namely 60 instead of 30 euros. The fan club described this as “rule-inconsistent pricing”.
In the game at Viktoria Pilsen, Bayern fans sent a clear message. Next to a banner with the inscription “70 € Fuck you!”, the Bayern supporters only took their seats in the twelfth minute of the game in the Doosan Arena – just in time for Munich’s 2-0 through Thomas Müller. In the end, the Bayern fans who had traveled with them were able to celebrate a 4:2 win and their team’s early entry into the round of 16 of the premier class. And the anger about the expensive ticket costs will not go away so quickly until something changes in the pricing policy.
