Critics suggested that high ticket prices for Saturday's FA Cup on the secondary market were "promoted by an 'unfair' allocation of seats" which left many Arsenal and Hull City fans "short of tickets," according to Nicola Fifield of the London TELEGRAPH. Arsenal fans were seeing second-hand tickets being sold for £3,000 ($5,000). Arsenal was handed an allocation of just 25,000 tickets by the FA, leaving many fans "without a place at the match." Shadow Sports Minister Clive Efford said that "the sale of tickets in an 'uncontrolled marketplace' raised security concerns." Efford: “The FA should be clamping down on this.” The FA has "urged fans to purchase tickets only through official retailers." Tim Payton, of the Arsenal Supporters Trust, said, “The allocation is wrong. The FA needs to increase the allocation given to both competing clubs in the final. The FA has given Arsenal and Hull City 25,000 tickets each for their fans, with 20,000 tickets going to grassroots volunteers, 17,000 to Wembley season ticketholders and the rest to clubs and sponsors" (TELEGRAPH, 5/17). In London, Charles Reynolds reported thousands of Arsenal supporters "took part in a victory parade" on Sunday in north London "to rejoice in their side's dramatic FA Cup final win." The Arsenal players "were transported along the parade route in special red double decker buses" (INDEPENDENT, 5/18).
LA LIGA CELEBRATION: The AP's Paul Logothetis reported Atletico Madrid supporters "celebrated long into the night" on Saturday after seeing their team win its first La Liga title in 18 years. The thousands of supporters who flocked to Neptuno Square in Madrid to cheer on the club "stayed long afterwards to sing and make merry after Diego Godin's second-half header gave Atleti the point they needed." Even the 99,000-capacity Camp Nou spectators "were grateful for the first non-Barcelona or Madrid champion" since Valencia in '04 (AP, 5/17).
