Anderlecht demands more tickets for rematch against PSG

Anderlecht football club has demanded an increased allocation of tickets for the club's return match against Paris St-Germain (PSG) at the Parc des Princes in the French capital (photo) on Tuesday 5 November, despite the threat of clashes between Belgian and French fans.

When the two teams met earlier in October for their Champions' League fixture, police narrowly managed to avoid serious clashes by sweeping up more than 80 fans preparing for a fight, and detaining them until the match was over. According to intelligence picked up by police at the time, the thwarted fans of both sides planned to meet up in Paris instead, with mayhem in mind. Meetings between the two sides traditionally end in violence.

Because of the threats, PSG were reluctant to allocate any tickets at all to visiting Anderlecht fans. After discussions with Anderlecht and the French police, PSG gave in and allocated 600 tickets – not enough to satisfy Anderlecht. According to manager Herman Van Holsbeeck, UEFA rules say 5% of the stadium must be set aside for visiting fans, the equivalent of more than 2,000 places. For the first leg, Anderlecht allowed 900 tickets for PSG fans, though the club only took up 400 places.

“Our fans have behaved in an exemplary fashion in recent years, and showed the world their best side,” Van Holsbeeck said. “We also showed in the previous meeting that we can organise a risk match without problems arising.”