Arsenal face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30, but the club have reportedly been criticised for charging staff £859 for chartered flights to the game
Arsenal staff members have reportedly been left ‘angered and disappointed’ following the club’s decision to charge them £859 for travel to the Champions League final.
The Gunners meet Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on May 30, though the cost of attendance has deterred certain employees. Arsenal have reached their first Champions League final in two decades after securing a 2-1 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid in last week’s semi-final.
The fixture will cap what could be a historic conclusion to the season for Mikel Arteta’s squad, who are also leading the race to claim the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years. UEFA have allocated the club 16,824 general admission tickets for the encounter, which begins at 5pm in the Puskas Arena.
While PSG are covering their staff’s expenses to attend the fixture in Hungary later this month, Arsenal have adopted an alternative strategy.
The Telegraph reports that, while the Gunners have distributed one complimentary non-transferable ticket per employee for the match, they have also arranged chartered flights through a third-party travel operator. “Space permitting, colleagues attending the final can opt to purchase a seat on these flights,” employees were reportedly informed.
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The packages, from SportsBreaks, are priced at £859 per person and depart from London Luton Airport early on match day, with a return flight scheduled immediately following the fixture.
The report indicates that approximately a third of the club’s workforce have accepted the offer, though the arrangement has sparked dissatisfaction.
Some believe they have little alternative, considering numerous staff members will be required back in London on 31st May for a trophy parade should Arteta’s team triumph against the defending champions.
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Arsenal have provided complimentary tickets to personnel for their screening of the final at the Emirates Stadium as an option for those unable or unwilling to travel to Budapest.
The substantial expenses being transferred to Arsenal staff come despite the club securing £120million from their journey to the Champions League final this season.
This could potentially contradict the sentiments expressed by Arteta following the victory over Atletico Madrid last week.
“It’s an incredible night,” he said. “We made history again together. I cannot be happier and prouder of everyone involved in this football club. The manner that we got to see outside the stadium was special and unique.
“The atmosphere that our supporters created, the energy, the way they lived every ball with us, it made it special and unique. I never felt that in the stadium. We knew how much it meant to everybody. We put everything in, the boys did an incredible job. After 20 years and for the second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”
