Disabled Manchester United and Tottenham fans have hit out at the ‘insulting’ number of wheelchair and accessible tickets available for their Europa League final clash.
A mere 26 wheelchair spaces and 15 ‘easy access’ seats, which provide added room for those with mobility issues, are available out of either side’s 15,000 allocation at Athletic Bilbao’s 53,000 seater San Mames Stadium.
Wednesday’s final provides United and Spurs with an opportunity to give supporters some cheer after enormously disappointing domestic campaigns, but disabled fans have been left bemused as their allocations falls significant of even UEFA’s own guidelines.
UEFA recommends that a stadium of San Mames’s capacity, which is being reduced to 49,600 for the final, should have 236 wheelchair spaces and 236 ‘amenity and easy access seats’.
Even at its usual capacity, it only holds 208 wheelchair and 102 easy access seats, meaning it does not comply with UEFA guidelines.
Each club should have been given 58 wheelchair spaces and 28 easy access seats with the final’s capacity, according to disabled sports charity Level Playing Field.
Manchester United face Tottenham in the Europa League final in Bilbao on Wednesday night
Disabled fans of both clubs have strongly criticised the ‘insulting’ allocation they received
Only 26 wheelchair spaces and 15 ‘easy access’ seats will be available for fans of each side
Mark Spencer, a member of Spurs Ability, the fan group representing disabled supporters, said the allocation was ‘insulting’.
‘To say I’m gutted is an understatement, he told BBC Sport. ‘I wasn’t able to go to Madrid for the Champions League [final] in 2019 and I thought this might be my chance – but Uefa have just not given us the percentage of seating that they should be giving us under their own rules and regulations.
‘You feel that you’re being prevented from watching football and supporting your team because of a disability so it’s quite insulting and very disappointing.
Manchester United Disabled Supporters’ Association secretary, Rick Clement, said: ‘To see that in 2025 we are still not receiving a fair allocation of accessible tickets, which fall short of UEFA’s own guidelines, is extremely disappointing and reinforces the fact that disability is often an afterthought.’
SpursAbility co-chair, Rita Egan, said they were ‘extremely disappointed’ at the allocation.
‘The numbers for both fanbases are wholly insufficient,’ she said. ‘There should at least have been a proportionate distribution of the spaces available at the stadium, in line with the general allocation.’
Tony Taylor, the Chair of Level Playing Field, accused UEFA of ‘lacking accountability’ and locking supports out of the final.
‘Inadequate provisions are set to result in disproportionate exclusion, on a day when fanbases should be united for a celebration,’ he said.
SpursAbility co-chair, Rita Egan, said the group were ‘extremely disappointed’ at the allocation
Thousands of supporters of United and Spurs have descended upon Bilbao ahead of the final
Ange Postecoglou will look to lift Tottenham Hotspur’s first piece of silverware in 17 years
‘Instead, we have seen another failure from UEFA at a showpiece event. Accountability has been lacking before and now we can see more disregard for disabled fans, which ignores the governing body’s own guidance and underutilises the facilities available, without adequate justification.
‘We know that there are additional barriers to European travel for many disabled fans. To then have further barriers put in place through ticketing and a lack of facilities, and be disproportionally locked out of occasions like this, is unacceptable.
‘I feel for the disabled fans of both clubs who have supported their sides throughout this season and are set to miss out on what could be the highlight.’
Level Playing Field also said it has been in discussion with Chelsea Disabled Supporters’ Association about the lack of accessible seating in their Conference League final against Real Betis.
In response to the criticism, UEFA said it was ‘committed to ensuring a barrier-free experience for disabled fans and are working hard to improve both standards and experiences related to this.’
‘The provision of quality sightlines is a decisive factor when determining whether a seat can be offered at a UEFA club final but we also factor historical demand as this is a way in which we manage to increase the numbers in accordance to demand.
They added: ‘For context: For the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final 2024 in Bilbao, we allocated 60 seats and sold 59. For the UEFA Europa League Final 2024 in Dublin, we allocated 93 seats and sold 41.’
