England fans clog Uefa website as Euro 2012 tickets go on sale
By Sportingintelligence
12 December 2011
Tickets for Euro 2012 have gone on general sale this morning via the Uefa website, with demand from fans of some nations so high - especially England - that the site has periodically flashed up messages saying it cannot handle the volume. The message asks supporters to try later. The website appears to be running smoothly at the time of writing (midday Monday, UK time).
Uefa have set up ticket portals for each of the 16 competing nations, and they can be accessed at this link here.
Fans from competing nations are each guaranteed at least 16 per cent of the capacity of the grounds for the group stages. So fans of the sides will get 32 per cent of tickets; sponsors, corporates and other 'football family' members will get 68 per cent.
For England, this means 8,300 tickets for the games in Donetsk against France on 11 June and against Ukraine on 19 June, and 11,000 tickets for the game with Sweden in Kiev on 15 June.
Seats are not being sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Applicants have until 29 February to apply, with Uefa saying: "Lotteries will determine which applicants receive tickets and supporters therefore do not have to rush to apply for tickets."
Uefa's Euro 2012 ticketing information hub is linked here.
Prices are as follows:
In a statement explaining how further tickets will be available for each match via tour operators, a Uefa statement says: "As part of its ticketing strategy, UEFA will also implement a Tour Operator Programme (TOP). This service will give the opportunity for fans to purchase travel packages from licensed tour operators and related tickets on UEFA.com afterwards.
"There is a maximum of two tour operators offering such services in each of the participating countries, with TUI Travel PLC, the official accommodation agency of UEFA EURO 2012, being a licensed operator in most of the participating countries.
"The programme will distribute up to 31’000 tickets, meaning that an additional 1,000 tickets per match are reserved for supporters of the participating teams. The programme will run from 12 December 2011 to 01 March 2012.
"A total of 1.4 million tickets will be available for the final tournament of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012 and around 85% will end up in the hands of fans, either through UEFA’s official website, via the national associations of the 16 participating teams or via competitions organised by sponsors of the competition.
"The remaining tickets will be allocated to non-participating member associations, to other members of the football family such as confederations, clubs, referees and other officials, to host governments and the host cities, to VIP guests, as well as for the corporate hospitality programme."
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