Milan urge Serie A action over €65 Udinese away tickets

Milan have backed their supporters’ planned boycott of Sunday’s Serie A match at Udinese, condemning the €65 (£56; $73) price of an away ticket as part of a systematic exploitation of travelling fans.

The club said the price was unacceptable and called on Lega Serie A to introduce a league-wide limit on the cost of tickets for visiting supporters.

In a strongly worded statement, reported by Reuters, Milan said the issue went beyond the financial burden placed on individual fans.

“Charging excessive prices to supporters of the same team for attending matches away from home is not only unfair, but also undermines the unity of the league at a time when Italian football needs to stand together to compete with the Premier League and other European leagues,” the club said.

Milan’s support follows a decision by their supporters to stay away from Sunday’s match in Udine in protest at the €65 ticket price. The club described the figure as shocking and said its position represented an unprecedented challenge from a major team to Italy’s ticket-pricing system.

The club also pointed to the Premier League as an example of how a maximum price could work. It called for away tickets in Serie A to be capped at £30 (about $40), citing the system used in England.

Milan went further by suggesting a possible policy of reciprocal pricing. Under the proposal, clubs charging Milan supporters more than the average away-ticket price could face higher prices for their own fans when visiting San Siro, in accordance with league regulations.

Any additional income generated through that approach would be given to the Fondazione Milan to support charitable initiatives, the club said.

Milan ended its statement with a message that has drawn widespread attention: “Italian football cannot prosper by treating supporters differently based on the size of their club.”

The dispute reflects a long-running problem with away-ticket prices in Italy. Milan’s Curva Sud supporters’ group boycotted the club’s away match at Juventus in 2023 over the same issue.

The group renewed its complaints last season after accusing both Juventus and Torino of setting excessive prices for visiting Milan supporters.

Milan’s intervention places pressure on Lega Serie A to address the issue across the competition, rather than leaving individual clubs and supporter groups to resolve disputes over away-ticket costs themselves.