Uefa defends high price of attending Champions League final at Wembley

Uefa has been forced to defend the high price of attending the Champions League final at Wembley on 28 May, admitting it would be the most expensive ever with the cheapest tickets on general sale costing £176 each. Some 11,000 tickets will go on sale to the general public costing £300, £225 and £150 plus a £26 "administration fee". An allocation of 50,000 tickets which will be reserved for fans of the two finalists will include "category four" tickets at £80 each, according to Uefa. The cost of Champions League final tickets has rocketed since Manchester United played Barcelona in Rome 2009. The category three tickets have almost doubled since then, when they cost £80. The Uefa director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti insisted the prices were based on the market rate and compared with those for the World Cup final. "The prices are based on the type of event and when you compare it to other events we don't think that the Champions League final is overpriced," he said. "We do not want to squeeze every single penny out of the market." The Champions League final took place on a Saturday last year for the first time after the Uefa president, Michel Platini, said he wanted to attract more children to the match. "That's also why we put some tickets from children at a discounted price," said Marchetti, though the 500 packages on offer for one adult and one child are only available in category two and will cost £338. "That's a 50% discount for the child," said Marchetti. The £26 administration fee per two-ticket booking – or £36 outside Europe – was justified because there were "costs involved", he said.