Laporta announces first measures after Camp Nou ticket shambles

Joan Laporta has announced the first measures Barcelona will take after 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans gained entry to Camp Nou for Thursday's Europa League game.

The Barça president has communicated that, from now on, "tickets for international competitions will be non-transferable."  

He explained: "The club is not guilty in regards to events leading to the tickets ending up in the hands of German fans. However, we do assume the responsibility that falls on us.

"Whoever knows me is aware that I always assume responsibility and look for solutions. We do not want this to happen again at Barça and so we must take action."

Explaining how so many tickets fells into German hands, Laporta said: "34,440 tickets were sold. Barça fans should know that we have those tickets because there are season tickets holders who have asked for a temporary suspension and we put those on sale.

"The Club put those tickets on sale with restrictions: they could not be bought by German credit cards or via German EPP. The Club did not sell tickets to German and established all the available restrictions as has been the case over the last six seasons. 

"The tickets that we sold to the away team were in line with UEFA rules, 5,000 tickets. Those tickets were located at the top of the third tier. The 34,440 tickets are those below. 2,425 were UEFA inviations (UEFA rules also) and the attendance by season ticket holders was 37,746. In total, 79,468 people attended the game. 

"We insist that the 34,440 tickets that went on sale were tickets restricted to sale outside Germany. The Club did not sell tickets to German fans. Who bought those tickets, did so and passed them on to German fans, that is obvious." 

No option

Laporta finished: "We have never wanted to take this action before because it is inconvenient for members and Barça fans who follow the rules, who are many and I thank you for coming on 14 April to support the team.

"However, we have no option but to adopt these measures. We will make tickets non-transferable, we will have to do it and I ask for your understanding so that what happened against Eintracht Frankfurt does not happen again."