Inter Milan supporters first had to face an extremely reduced allowance: only 18,000 tickets out of the 70,000 places of the Allianz Arena in Munich were reserved for them. Faced with a request almost ten times higher – more than 180,000 requests according to the Nerazzurro club – many fans found themselves on the waiting list or downright excluded from the draw organized in early May. Those who obtained a ticket then suffered massive cancellations, UEFA neutralizing in return several thousand tickets suspected of having been bought via botnets or sold illegally. At the same time, international payment systems, subject to bank blockages on certain cross -border transactions, led to purchase failures at the time of final validation, leaving supporters from Italy without confirmation of their place.
On the PSG side, the difficulties were just as significant: despite an allowance similar to 18,000 tickets, the online request procedure – deployed exclusively via the official UEFA application mobile tickets – suffered from technical bugs and endless queues. Hundreds of Parisians have complained about the absence of notifications when the sale is opened, when others have been cut without receiving their digital tickets or have been prevented from accessing the application due to an overload of the servers. Finally, “zero paper” policy and the ban on any unofficial resale have prompted certain supporters to use the black market, where places sometimes exchange up to € 8,000 on fraudulent sites, with the permanent risk of being refused the entrance on the evening of the match. A real problem for the European institution.
UEFA's scathing recall
Supporters in search of a precious sesame for the final of the Champions League between PSG and Inter Milan, scheduled for May 31 in Munich, are this time warned: UEFA recalls that any purchase of tickets via unauthorized resale platforms, whether third -party sites, independent agencies or resellers, is strictly not recommended. In its press release, the body specifies that these tickets can be canceled at any time, resulting in the refusal of entry, or even the expulsion of the stadium, and that buyers are exposed to the risk of never receiving the acquired tickets illegally. This recall comes while the request reaches historical heights – UEFA having recorded more than 1.2 million requests for barely 70,000 places allocated to supporters of the two clubs – and that resales on the black market flambé up to € 10,000 for a standard place.
The warning also extends to the Europa League and Europa League Conference: only the official UEFA website is empowered to issue tickets, 100 % dematerialized via the mobile ticket application. The account sharing or the presentation of screenshots are formally prohibited, as are paper tickets, now obsolete. To strengthen the fight against fraud, UEFA recently strengthened its controls at access points, deployed ticket traceability devices and launched a special secondary market monitoring cell. Faced with the outbreak of prices and the testimonies of supporters trapped by large -scale scams, the body multiplies awareness messages and partnerships with local police to protect fans and guarantee security in and around the stadium. As a reminder, 25,800 places were allocated to business partners, sponsors and federations.
