Bilbao Braces for About 80,000 English Football Fans at Europa League Final
(MENAFN) An estimated 80,000 English football fans may travel to Bilbao in northern Spain for the Europa League final on Wednesday, with around 30,000 of them expected to arrive without tickets, according to Chief Constable Mark Roberts.
Speaking to a news agency, Roberts strongly advised fans without tickets "not to travel," citing soaring travel and lodging expenses in the host city.
"We'd really encourage fans without tickets not to travel," stated Roberts.
"I know people like to go and enjoy the atmosphere and that's fair enough but while Bilbao is a great city, it's not a big city. The cost of flights and hotels is fairly astronomical. People are not going to be able to get anywhere near the stadium and without that ability to stay places, people really need to think about it. They're probably better off staying at home," he further stated.
Although each team has received just 14,700 tickets for the 53,000-seat San Mames stadium, Roberts expects the venue to be filled with fans from both clubs. "British people tend to be very good at mopping up tickets for any sporting event, so I can imagine that it's going to be a real high contingent of United and Spurs fans in there," he said.
While previous Champions League finals in Paris and Istanbul faced significant logistical challenges, Bilbao’s San Mames stadium is centrally located, enabling fans to walk to the match.
"We want everyone to go to Bilbao and have a great time first and foremost - it's a big event people should enjoy it," said Roberts, who also minimized concerns over potential violence among fans.
"We don't generally see people travelling with the intent to cause violence, when we do have issues it's usually because there's a massive following of people who tend to drink quite a lot."
"When you compare and contrast us with some of the hooligan groups you see on the continent who are intent on causing serious violence then the spotlight really needs to go somewhere else," he added.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
