The City of Manchester has been put on ‘Ticket Tout Alert’ after thousands of Glasgow Rangers fans were unable to purchase tickets legitimately for Wednesdays UEFA Cup Final.
Both Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg have been allotted a mere 13,000 tickets, which mean many are struggling to obtain a seat through legal channels. The remaining 20,000 seats within the City of Manchester Stadium will be classed as corporate / hospitality.
The latest figures suggest at least 120,000 Rangers supporters are set to arrive in Manchester for the big game, while Zenit fans without tickets will be low.
On Friday, tickets to the final were illegally being offered for sale on E-Bay for up to £520, meanwhile in Manchester, where 3,000 UEFA Cup tickets were sold to local football fans, touts were offering £75 tickets to Rangers supporters at £1,500 a pair.
Official tickets for the Glasgow Rangers v Zenit St Petersburg final were put on sale costing between £55 and £95 per ticket; however, fans with tickets wishing to make a quick buck on the night could make anything between 2,000 and 3,000 per cent above face value.
UEFA Statement
UEFA urged fans not to buy from touts and warned that the names of successful applicants would be printed on their tickets and that ID checks could be implemented at the entrance of the stadium.
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Flybe said that ticket sales on its Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast to Manchester flights between Monday and Wednesday have risen by 50 per cent.
Virgin Trains said tickets on its trains travelling south from Scotland to Manchester were sold out.
So far, the AA & RAC have remained silent; nevertheless, fans travelling south can expect all the major roads to be busier than normal.
