The match of the 7th round of the Russian Premier League between Fakel and Spartak may be one of the most interesting this weekend in terms of entourage.
Two days before the game, a huge queue of Voronezh fans lined up for tickets to the meeting, and the club's press service accidentally made a small scandal by banning the symbols of red and white in the stands.
Place in the queue - 5 thousand rubles
Voronezh, which had been playing in the lower divisions for a long time, missed big football.
This became clear even before the start of the championship, when Fakel sold 13,000 season tickets for the first eight home matches of the season with a capacity of 21,793 people.
The remaining tickets go to the away tribune for the opponent's fans.
However, Spartak Moscow, in support of active fans who are boycotting the introduction of Fan ID, refused to sell its quota for the meeting of the 7th round of the RPL.
Thus, that part of the Voronezh residents who failed to get a season ticket had the opportunity to get to the match.
Tickets were supposed to go on sale Thursday at 11 am.
At the same time, as the club explained, the fans asked to sell them through the box office, and not online, since the team's website is working intermittently.
“He couldn't stand it.
Fans turned more than once, not twice, and not three times with a request to put the tickets at the box office.
We see how the stadium is packed for every match.
At least for the Ural, at least for anyone.
There are many people who do not get into the stands, ”Match TV quotes the Fakel press service.
Already a few hours before the start of sales, huge queues formed at the Central Stadium of Trade Unions.
Many took places in the evening and spent the night at the arena.
The number of people who wanted to get to the meeting with Spartak numbered in the thousands, while only a few cash desks were opened, which simply could not cope with such a flow of people.
The fans stood in the 30-degree heat, and, as eyewitnesses say, several were even taken away in an ambulance.
The people expressed dissatisfaction.
It immediately became clear that many of the stands will not get.
There are too many who want.
As a result, by 17:00 everything was sold out.
Speculators could not bypass the current situation.
Even before the opening of the box office, there were advertisements on the websites for the sale of tickets for the Fakel - Spartak match at huge prices - up to 7 thousand rubles.
Particularly enterprising offered a place in the queue.
However, this option turned out to be slightly more profitable.
The fan would have to pay 5,000 rubles for help.
Some have decided to take advantage of the hype in another way: to rent season tickets.
Thus, two seats on the central podium can be obtained for 15 thousand rubles.
Error in wording
Added fuel to the fire and "Torch" itself.
The message on social networks announcing the events that will take place at the arena before the match with Spartak ended with the phrase: “Entrance to the stands of the stadium with the symbols of the rival club Fakel is STRICTLY prohibited!”
The ban on Spartak paraphernalia was immediately followed by a reaction from the red-and-whites.
The head of the press service of the team, Dmitry Zelenov, said that the actions of the Voronezh team were illegal and promised to contact the RPL to resolve the situation.
“Spartak has a lot of fans in different cities of Russia, and the refusal to organize an away sector of active support does not mean that a person cannot buy a ticket to any other sector and come to the stadium in a red and white scarf.
Under the federal Spectator Conduct Rules, fans may bring personal items into the stadium that are not prohibited by these rules.
Based on the RPL Regulations, paraphernalia, in particular scarves, does not apply to support means, which means that it does not require coordination.
There are illegal discriminatory demands,” Zelenov told reporters.
The former Spartak players also expressed their indignation.
According to the ex-goalkeeper of the red and white Anzor Kavazashvili, the RFU and the RPL should look into the situation and issue a strict reprimand to Fakel.
“They have no right to do this.
And the explanation that there will be no guest sector at the match is nonsense.
Who gave them the right to ban something?
It is necessary to find out who is in charge of such issues at Torch, and get rid of such active "artists", - quotes Kavazashvili's words "Championship".
The head of the RPL, Alexander Alaev, in turn, promptly contacted the general director of the Voronezh team, Roman Askhabadze.
It turned out that the club employee who published the news made a mistake in the wording: they meant the means of active support that required additional approval, and not the symbols of Spartak.
Torch had to apologize.
“The Red-Whites have officially abandoned the guest quota.
Therefore, we got the right to sell tickets outside the gate, to the North Stand.
Seats in the rest of the stands were bought out under the subscription program.
Selling tickets before all home matches, we informed that the means of supporting the away team are only allowed in the away sector.
There will be no guest sector at the match with Spartak as such.
And we made an incorrect wording - we had in mind the means of active support, and not paraphernalia.
Therefore, there can be no talk that fans with Spartak symbols will not be allowed into the stadium in Voronezh.
We apologize to the Spartak football club for the incorrect wording - all football fans are welcome in our city, ”the club press service said in a statement.
This ended the conflict.
Zelenov thanked Fakel and RPL for the quick response.
"Colleagues from Voronezh - respect for the fact that they quickly corrected the mistake, and the misunderstanding that happened should not overshadow the match, which the fans of both teams are waiting for," said the head of the Spartak press service.
The story with the ban was resolved, but it further fueled the excitement before the match.
Although, it would seem, much more.