UEFA president Michel Platini 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 their 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 ($130) in 2009 will cost ?175 ($253) in 2011. The equivalent ticket in Madrid last year to see Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich cost ?155.
A ticket costing ?140 in 2009 has risen by around 85 percent to ?260 in 2011.
On top of buying the ticket, fans will also have to pay an administration fee of ?31 for sales within Europe.
But Platini said however low UEFA makes ticket prices, scalpers - or touts as they called in England - will try to sell them at a higher price for profit.
Platini said that is happening with the 11,000 tickets for the final that have already been put on open sale after receiving 200,000 requests.
''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 gets past German club Schalke.
Each of the finalists receive 25,000 tickets. The cheapest seats, which are sold only by the finalists, are ?95, compared with ?90 in 2010 and ?70 in Rome in 2009.
UEFA expects income from the Champions League final to reach ?16.7 million, compared with ?11.5 million last year.
