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This season’s
Champions League final at Wembley in May will be the most expensive for
fans with the cheapest ticket for a neutral costing 150 pounds.

UEFA, who have
moved the game to a Saturday evening for the first time, announced
their ticket policy at London’s City Hall on Thursday, saying they
expected record gate receipts of 14 million pounds from football’s most
prestigious club match.

The two finalists
are to receive 25,000 tickets apiece for their supporters, who will
have the option of buying a Category Four ticket for 80 pounds although
UEFA did not say how many of those cheaper seats would be available.

Neutrals buying
through UEFA will be excluded from Category Four, meaning they will
have to pay 300 pounds for a Category One seat, 225 pounds for a
Category Two and 150 pounds for a Category Three. A fee of 26 pounds
will also be applied to European sales.

UEFA’s competitions
director Giorgio Marchetti refuted suggestions that fans were being
priced out and that ticket costs had been ramped up because the final
is in London.

“Last year there was already an increase, a more significant increase compared to the year before,” he told reporters.

“If you look at other comparable events in football, the Champions League final is still priced below that.

Slight increase

“The prices are a
slight increase from last year but these are the prices for an event
which is the most remarkable club football event of the year,” added
Marchetti.

“We don’t think the Champions League final is over-priced.

We do not want to
squeeze every single penny out of the market.” The most expensive
tickets for last year’s Madrid final between Inter Milan and Bayern
Munich were 300 Euros, with the cheapest for a neutral supporter at 155
Euros.

UEFA said 61,000 of the 86,000 tickets would be for “football fans” including 11,000 for neutrals.

Four English teams are still hopeful of reaching the final, three from London.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are well-placed in their last 16 ties
after first-leg wins over Barcelona and AC Milan respectively while
Chelsea face FC Copenhagen next week. Manchester United also meet
Olympique Marseille next week. Tickets go on sale on UEFA’s website on
February 24.