Champions League final: Spurs reject fans' ticket subsidy call

Tottenham and Liverpool celebrate their Champions League semi-final wins

Tottenham Hotspur have rejected a call to subsidise tickets for the Champions League final.

Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust (THST) and Liverpool fans union Spirit of Shankly (SOS) both urged their clubs to use income from the competition towards ticket prices.

But Spurs have declined, saying it would remove the incentive for Uefa to "price sensibly in the future".

Liverpool have not yet responded to the supporters' suggestion.

SOS and THST also asked the clubs to extend season ticket payment deadlines to allow fans time for another pay-day after the final, which Tottenham have agreed to.

The Champions League final takes place at Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid on Saturday 1 June at 20:00 BST.

Liverpool and Tottenham fans will share 33,226 tickets for the final, which takes place in a 68,000-capacity stadium.

Significant costs for fans

SOS claim Liverpool will generate more than £90m from this year's Champions League campaign, with a further £3.4m if the club wins.

It said of the club's 16,000 allocation, 6,500 were not for general sale, and Reds' fans would get 3,000 fewer tickets than Spurs.

Liverpool's season ticket payment deadline is currently 24 May, a week before the final.

Tottenham told THST it acknowledged that ticket prices, along with inflated flight and hotel prices, "represent significant costs for fans".

The club said it hoped future competitions "can be priced more reasonably and made more widely accessible".

It added: "For the game in hand however we do not feel it is appropriate for us to subsidise ticket prices, not least because it would remove any incentive for competition organisers to price sensibly in the future."

THST said it did not agree that "using income made from the clubs' runs in the competition to subsidise tickets would remove the incentive to reduce prices in future" but it was happy the club had "acknowledged the significant costs to our fans".

"We are happy that it is pressing the issues of pricing and allocation with UEFA. When clubs and fans work together, we can secure change," a spokesman added.

SOS said it was disappointed Tottenham had not supported the idea of subsidising fans' tickets but it was yet to receive a response from Liverpool.

SOS and THST earlier complained of a "measly allocation from Uefa" and said it was "time to stop cashing in on fan loyalty".