Euro 2020: unsold Wembley hospitality could mean extra seats for fans

  • 6/2/2021
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Most hospitality packages for Euro 2020 matches at Wembley remain unsold 10 days before the start of the tournament, with Uefa telling the Guardian more seats will be made available to fans if those VIP tickets are not taken. There remains “high” availability for hospitality at seven of the eight matches to be held at Wembley, with only tickets for the fixture between Scotland and England sold out. Wembley hosts England’s three group D matches, one last-16 match, one quarter-final, both semi-finals and the final between 13 June and 11 July. Packages that start at €1,500 (£1,290) are available for England v Croatia and England v the Czech Republic, and tickets that start at €5,200 and go as high as €9,100 are available for the final. A lack of interest in high-end tickets could be explained by a number of factors, including restrictions on international travel and a lack of corporate entertainment during the pandemic. It comes at a time, however, when many fans who thought they had tickets have been informed they have lost their seats because of social distancing. Uefa would not confirm the number of tickets available but a source said “everything that could be released for the general public would be at some point”. The potential revenue from hospitality packages is an important consideration for the governing body, which was forced to postpone the tournament last year and is staging most matches at a reduced capacity. The fan group Football Supporters Europe said any unused tickets should be given to national associations to distribute among loyal fans. “All of our respective groups do understand there needs to be a reduction in capacity for national team allocations,” said Matt Willis, the FSE’s fan ambassador for Euro 2020. “If there are surplus hospitality, however, they should be made available to those who have a history of attending tournaments or watching their national team play. We would lobby for any additional tickets to go to the participating national associations.” Participating national associations have been awarded tickets amounting to 16% of capacity. That is about 3,500 tickets from a capacity of approximately 22,500 going to England fans for their group matches. Half the tickets are sold to the general public, with the remainder divided between commercial partners, hospitality and the Uefa “football family”.

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