In the round of 16 first leg of the Europa League at Juventus Turin, SC Freiburg has to make do with less fan support than hoped. SC supporters’ tickets for Thursday’s game have been canceled by the Italian record champions. The disappointment among the SC fans is huge.
Stefan Störk (30) from Offenburg has been a fan of SC Freiburg since childhood. For him and his buddies, it quickly became clear that they would, of course on Thursday evening at the stadium in Turin want to be there. European Cup feeling at a very high level against a very big name in European club football – Juventus Turin. However, they had no luck at first in the raffle for the official SC away tickets. Suddenly, however, a smart alternative appeared.
As a Juve member at the Freiburg highlight
A friend of Stefan’s found out via Facebook that membership with Juventus would get you home tickets straight away: “There are three membership models on the homepage. The cheapest is ‘Membership Lite’ for 40 euros,” Stefan explains SWR Sport. The regulations were child’s play and the approximately 30 euros for the card could be paid by credit card. Without further ado, their personalized electronic tickets were then emailed to them. Including proof of your membership in Juventus Turin. “We were of course very happy about that. Because the chance was actually already over.”
First, it’s different…
Early on Monday evening, the dream of being there when SC Freiburg might even write club history was shattered. “They wrote us an email saying that the tickets are canceled and we get the money back.“The costs for the membership, which was paid via PayPal, were recovered from the financial service provider by Stefan and Co. Fortunately, they didn’t incur any other costs. The trip to Turin was planned with their own car and the booked hotel could be canceled free of charge Still small consolation for the missed live experience.
The email from Juventus Turin to the affected Freiburg fans
Dear Customer, We are contacting you regarding the tickets you bought for Juventus – SC Freiburg scheduled for March 9th, 2023.
As you should already know, access restrictions for German supporters are in place for this match due to concerns about public order and UEFA regulations.
For this reason, we inform you that your tickets will be canceled and fully refunded to the credit card you purchased within ten business days. Translation Dear customer, we are contacting you regarding the tickets you have purchased for the match Juventus vs SC Freiburg on March 9th. As you should already know, due to security concerns and UEFA regulations, this match is restricted to German fans. Therefore, we are informing you that your tickets will be canceled and the purchase price will be fully refunded to the credit card you used within ten working days.
Unfortunately, not all of the approximately 1,500 Freiburg fans who got tickets in this way are likely to have got off so lightly. Helen Breit, member of the SC Freiburg Supporters Crew, has no understanding for the actions of the Turin team: “It was promised that a ticket could be legally purchased in this way. I assume that there will now be massive empty seats. It’s stupid in a game like this.” Legal steps are still being examined, but would have no relevance for the first leg. Europa League with Juve is just like the video proof: first jubilant, then saddened to death.
Public viewing at home
SC Freiburg wouldn’t be SC Freiburg if it didn’t react in the interests of its fans. At Juventus Turin, however, initially unsuccessful: “We have campaigned for other solutions with the host club and made offers to cooperate in the implementation of an additional security concept. Unfortunately, these offers were not accepted,” said the Breisgauer on Monday evening. The SC therefore organized a public viewing for around 7,000 supporters in the Europa-Park stadium at short notice. However, the free tickets are already sold out.
