United charge Sevilla fans £89 ... to pay for Reds travelling to Spain

THE ticketing row between Manchester United and Sevilla has now led to both clubs subsidising costs for their own travelling fans. The Spanish club sparked fury when they announced before Christmas that they would charge United supporters an extortionate £89 to see the Champions League first leg at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on February 21. United negotiated with Sevilla in an attempt to reduce the cost, which is £35 more than Liverpool fans paid for their game in Seville in November. Those talks broke down and early yesterday it emerged that United had decided to charge Sevilla supporters the same £89 price for the March 13 return leg at Old Trafford. United said they would use money generated by that hike to refund £35 to their own travelling fans. But later in the day, Sevilla responded by saying they too would subsidise tickets for their own fans heading to Old Trafford and added that no members would pay more than €60 (£53.11). So rather than simply having reduced prices from the outset, fans of both sides will pay over the odds before receiving a subsidy. In a letter to fans United explained: ‘We believe that our travelling supporters are unfairly being subjected to increased/ excessive ticket prices from the host club. Ultimately, Sevilla have not agreed to significantly lower the price to what we view as a reasonable level. ‘Therefore, we have taken the difficult decision to charge Sevilla fans the same amount.’ Sevilla have also complained to UEFA over their allocation of 2,995 tickets for the return leg when they believe they should have had 3,800. A spokesman for the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust welcomed United’s move and Sevilla’s response. He said: ‘We are delighted United have fought our corner and are now working with the club to engage with UEFA to look at the non-member fees which have often been used to hike prices for our away fans. We are also glad that the actions taken by United have ultimately not led to Sevilla fans paying any more at Old Trafford either.’