LONDON – Michel Platini, the president of European soccer's governing body, apologized Wednesday for the high price of Champions League final tickets while claiming that some are already available on the black market for 10 times face value.
Tickets at Wembley Stadium on May 28 will cost almost twice as much as the final two years ago for some fans.
"It was a mistake, it was not good," Platini said in London for the handover of the Champions League trophy. "But it is not easy to decide the price of the tickets in the Champions League final."
A ticket that cost 90 euros ($130) in 2009 will cost 175 euros ($253) in 2011.
Platini, the president of the Union of European Football Associations, said 11,000 tickets for the final that already had been put on sale — sold after UEFA received 200,000 requests on its Web site — are being advertised at huge markups.
"Now on the black market these tickets are 10 times the price that we decided," Platini said. "Perhaps in the future we have to have another category for families that is less expensive. But if you put those on the black market how much will they cost?"
A Spanish team will play in the final, with Real Madrid and Barcelona facing off in the semifinals. Manchester United will contest the final on home soil if it beats Germany's Schalke.
Each of the finalists receive 25,000 tickets. The cheapest seats, which are sold only by the finalists, are 95 euros ($138), compared with 90 euros (then $111) in 2010 and 70 euros (then $96) in Rome in 2009.
UEFA expects income from the Champions League final to reach 16.7 million euros ($24.2 million), compared with 11.5 million euros (then $14.2 million) last year.
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