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| Newcastle United fans |
In a surprising move just days before their highly anticipated Champions League clash with Barcelona, Newcastle United has announced the cancellation of 103 season tickets, sparking significant discussion among the fanbase. The club revealed this drastic measure was taken after uncovering a long-standing "administrative error" dating back nearly a decade, which involved seats being sold to tour operators unnoticed for years.
The club issued a direct apology to its supporters, confirming that recent internal investigations into unauthorized ticket resales led to this shocking discovery. The issue traces back to an agreement signed in 2015 with a small group of tour operators to service school groups. It appears this arrangement continued to operate under the radar even after the club's ownership changed four years ago, as it was never formally terminated.
The crisis came to a head when it was discovered that the High School of Dundee, located hundreds of miles from Newcastle, had acquired 45 tickets for the upcoming Barcelona match. This news enraged fans, particularly as over 110,000 supporters were queued up in the electronic waiting list, dreaming of a chance to back their team on this historic European night at St. James' Park.
For its part, the school clarified that it had purchased the tickets "in good faith" through an intermediary, but the club moved swiftly to cancel them upon identifying the error. "We are doing everything we can to protect the access of our loyal supporters, and we want to be completely transparent. We sincerely apologize for this administrative mistake," the official club statement read.
The statement noted that these tour operators had been purchasing season tickets since the 2015-2016 season and reselling them at inflated prices, exploiting a loophole created by the absence of a formal contract to terminate the deal. The club emphasized that it did not profit from this activity, having never received any funds beyond the original face value of the tickets.
Immediately upon uncovering the problem, Newcastle returned all canceled seats to the official sales system, making them available to genuine supporters through a ballot. This action provides a renewed opportunity for the thousands of fans who had been hoping to secure a seat.
This decisive action from the club's management has been welcomed by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, which has long voiced concerns over the difficulty of obtaining tickets due to immense demand and the prevalence of a black market. The Trust praised the club's efforts to combat illicit resale operations that prevent true fans from supporting their team.
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