8:02 AM ET
Sam Marsden
Moises Llorens
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said the club is not to blame for the ticket fiasco against Eintracht Frankfurt and criticised a group of supporters for re-selling their seats to German fans.
Around 30,000 Frankfurt fans gained entry to Camp Nou last Thursday despite only officially receiving 5,000 tickets. Thousands more, though, were able to purchase seats in the home end, creating an even split among the 79,000 crowd.
Barca coach Xavi said his players felt “robbed in their own home” after they exited the Europa League, losing the second leg 3-2. However, Laporta maintains it was not the club’s fault.
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The president blamed club members for selling their seats, the ticketing system — which was inherited from the previous board — and tour operators for abusing their right to sell tickets.
“The club is not to blame for what happened against Eintracht, but it is responsible,” Laporta said in a news conference on Tuesday which was called to explain what went wrong.
“We didn’t sell tickets to German fans beyond the 5,000 away tickets. Sales from Germany weren’t allowed and there were many people trying to buy tickets from there. The system of control worked up to a point, but some organised groups were able to breach the mechanisms in place.
“We inherited the system from the previous board. We thought it could work but we have seen that for special games it doesn’t.
“Tickets will now be non-transferrable for non-domestic matches and high-risk games. We are working on other measures so that it does not happen again.”
The presence of so many away fans in Camp Nou led to fan protests before Monday’s surprise LaLiga defeat to Cadiz.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has blamed fans selling their tickets for the high away support. Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images
Around 100 fans chanted for Laporta to resign outside the stadium…
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