Arsenal have been urged by their supporters’ trust to make an official complaint to Uefa as a row about ticket allocations for the Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain escalates.
It is understood the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust plans to lodge a complaint with European football’s governing body after they were given only 2,000 tickets for next week’s second leg in France. That is 500 below the 5% away teams are entitled to by Uefa in European competitions, although PSG were given special dispensation to reduce that to 4.1% before the start of the season owing to a request from local police.
In a move backed by the Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly and supporter groups from Aston Villa, whose clubs received similar allocations when they faced PSG in the Champions League this season, the AST will request that Arsenal join them in submitting a complaint.
“It’s not fair that every club that plays a Champions League game in Paris has less tickets for their supporters,” the AST board member Tim Payton told the Guardian. “We don’t expect it will make much difference for next week’s second leg but the new format means that English clubs are going to be playing PSG more regularly over the next few years so something needs to change.”
Last week PSG lodged a complaint with Uefa about their allocation for the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, having had repeated requests for an increase turned down. The French champions brought 3,000 supporters to Arsenal in the league stage in October but that has been reduced to 2,500 – also below Uefa’s 5% threshold – owing to safety concerns.
Those are believed to have partially stemmed from a number of seats that were broken on their previous visit, although PSG officials have reportedly argued they were repaired at the club’s expense and feel the decision undermines the spirit of the game.
Arsenal refused to comment but it understood that the decision to reduce PSG’s allocation was guided by Metropolitan police and safety advisory groups. Uefa has been contacted for comment.
