Supporters of Manchester City and Chelsea have been left frustrated by the confusion around travel rules for the Champions League final – but Uefa is confident that all fans will be able to travel independently and stay in Portugal.
Hours after Uefa confirmed that the final had been moved from Istanbul to Porto, following days of failed talks with the UK government about using Wembley, a minister from the Portuguese government said that those with tickets for the Estadio do Dragao would have to travel in special fan bubbles and spend less than 24 hours in the country.
A stipulation of discussions with Uefa was that fans would be present and each club has a ticket allocation of 6,000. It was, however, not expected that those 12,000 supporters would have to fly on specially chartered planes and be ferried to and from fan zones and the stadium.
Uefa is expecting clarity from the Portuguese government – who on Friday gave the green light for people from the UK to visit the country – over the weekend, but the chaos and delays has angered those wishing to buy tickets.
“There is no clarity, it is very frustrating,” Kevin Parker, general secretary of the Manchester City Official Supporters Club, said.
“UEFA came out with this statement saying how wonderful they were, that the game was going to Porto, and each club were going to get 6,000 tickets, and tickets would soon be on sale. And on that basis everybody started booking their flights and accommodation.
“Then we saw the words spoken by the Portuguese minister which came as a shock. Since then Uefa has been very quiet. It’s a nightmare, to be honest.
“Everything is up in the air. Can we go Friday and come back Sunday or do we have to go Saturday?
“UEFA seemed to be suggesting they were delighted they were able to sort things for the supporters but it would seem they haven’t.”
A Manchester City statement read: “We are very mindful that our supporters have a number of outstanding questions relating to the travel arrangements for the Champions League Final and we are cognisant that answering these questions swiftly is all the more pressing given the tight timeframes in place.
“The Club is continuing to engage with UEFA who are in turn dealing with the relevant Portuguese authorities, to ascertain further information regarding the protocols that will be in place. We will provide clarity to our supporters as soon as we are able to and we thank supporters for their patience.”
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