Ahead of tomorrow’s draw in Monaco for the Champions League and Europa League 2019/20 tournaments, we the supporters of last season’s four finalists are calling for changes in how UEFA manage the finals.

A joint statement by Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, Spirit of Shankly and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust reads:

Reaching a UEFA Champions League or Europa League final should be a wonderful experience for a club’s supporters. Instead, they can face a struggle just to attend the match. ​Problems range from inadequate numbers of tickets being awarded to the finalists through to all-but-impossible travel arrangements. Too often fans who had supported their clubs in every round up to the final were left out of pocket or not able to attend the final at all.

We have drawn up a six-point action plan to improve the supporter experience. It has been referred to the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSE). We now call on UEFA to engage in meaningful dialogue with supporters and address these points

1. Allocation
80% of tickets should be made available to the two competing finalists, with the remaining 20% for sponsors, the football family, key stakeholders and a small general sale.

2. Capacity
Only stadiums with large capacities should be selected to ensure maximum ticket availability. We suggest 60,000 or greater for the Europa League final; 75,000 for the Champions League final.

3. Affordability
Ticket pricing for the final has to be fair and affordable. There should be a stretch pricing policy allowing choice for fans.

4. Accessibility
The final venue must have the highest standards for accessibility for people with disabilities, including travel access to the stadium; sufficient food, drink and washroom facilities; and have not been subject to a UEFA charge for the treatment of fans for at least 24 months prior to the final.

5. Infrastructure
The location of the final venue should be a city with excellent transport links, including the capacity to deal with additional charter flights, and ideally good rail links to nearby cities and airports; bed-space capacity to deal with the large number of visitors.

6. Equality
The host country must abide by a human-rights and equality policy that ensures no discrimination or denial of right of entry is applied to any player or supporter travelling to the final.

Tomorrow’s much-hyped draw will involve everybody from the football family except the very people without whom there would be no European football – its supporters. We call upon UEFA to strengthen its dialogue with fans and request that they start by engaging with groups such as ourselves to discuss the proposals to improve arrangements for fans at the final stages of the Champions and Europa Leagues.

Arsenal Supporters’ Trust

Chelsea Supporters’ Trust

Spirit of Shankly, Liverpool Supporters’ Union

Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust

For further information, please contact:

Joe Blott, SOS, 07305 157812 and Martin Cloake, THST, 07966 283446