MORE than a thousand Everton fans have had their tickets cancelled for Thursday's UEFA cup tie against German club Nurnberg.
Football governing body UEFA classified the match as “high- risk” after it emerged Nurnberg FC had sold around 1,500 tickets direct to Everton fans.
Last night, Nurnberg confirmed the tickets, which would have seen supporters from the two opposing teams seated together in stands, were cancelled following advice from UEFA. It is believed the fans will be refunded.
But angry fans last night said many would still travel as they had already spent hundreds of pounds on flights and hotel rooms.
It is understood Everton was disappointed with the club’s allocation of somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 tickets for the clash in Germany on Thursday.
Insiders say the club could have sold five or six times that number of tickets.
Last night, a spokesman for Nurnberg said UEFA had told the club it could not sell tickets directly to England, and ordered any already sold to be cancelled.
“It is a risk game, according to UEFA, and you can’t buy them if you’re from England,” he said. “That is why we had to cancel them.”
He said around 2,700 tickets in the 47,000-seat stadium were allocated to Everton. Everton is urging fans who did not buy a ticket through the home club not to travel.
Spokesman Ian Ross said: “We would never recommend that supporters get tickets through the host club. There are concerns when they do that. There are potential pitfalls.
“Those who bought them are being told now they can’t use them.”
He refused to confirm how many tickets Everton had been allocated, but added: “We got the biggest allocation of tickets we possibly could, but we could have sold that five or six times over.”
Last night, Everton released a statement on its website saying: “following discussions between the Bundesliga club, German authorities and UEFA, the game has now been classed as a 'risk' match, and away supporters will not be permitted in areas reserved for home supporters”.
A spokesman for UEFA said they “took this decision regarding security of the supporters” but refused to comment further.
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