The Spanish club Barcelona decided to suspend the sale of tickets for its match against Newcastle United, scheduled for March 18 in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, after the administration discovered several violations in the sales process, which included the presence of English fans outside the stands designated for them.
The Spanish newspaper “Marca” explained that these violations not only threaten the presence of large numbers of English fans in the stands of the “Camp Nou” stadium, the stronghold of the Catalan team, but may also endanger the safety of all those present.
The Catalan club confirmed in an official statement on Monday that it had decided to stop selling tickets for the match since last Friday, explaining that ticket sales would resume on Tuesday, in light of the club’s attempts to avoid the influx of English fans and their spread in the “Camp Nou” stadium.
The statement added: The club will take the necessary security measures to ensure the safety of all members and fans in the ranks of the two teams, and this includes implementing control measures on ticket sales, especially the sale of seats and preventing the presence of fans of the competing team outside the area designated for it in order to ensure safety for all.
“Barcelona” stressed in its statement that it is trying to avoid the crisis of 2022, when the stands of the “Camp Nou” stadium were filled with German fans who came to support “Eintracht Frankfurt” in its match against Barcelona in the European League competition.
