BILBAO, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Around 80,000 English football supporters could descend on the city of Bilbao (northern Spain) for Wednesday's Europa League final, with at least 30,000 of those without tickets, Chief Constable Mark Roberts has warned.
In an interview with the 'Guardian' newspaper, Roberts urged those without tickets "not to travel", highlighting high travel and accommodation costs in the city.
"We'd really encourage fans without tickets not to travel," said Roberts.
"I know people like to go and enjoy the atmosphere and that's fair enough but while Bilbao is a great city, it's not a big city. The cost of flights and hotels is fairly astronomical. People are not going to be able to get anywhere near the stadium and without that ability to stay places, people really need to think about it. They're probably better off staying at home," he added.
Although each club has officially only been given 14,700 tickets for the 53,000-capacity ground, Roberts predicted the stands in San Mames would be packed with supporters of both teams as "British people tend to be very good at mopping up tickets for any sporting event, so I can imagine that it's going to be a real high contingent of United and Spurs fans in there," he said.
Recent Champions League finals in Paris and Istanbul have seen major problems with logistics, while San Mames is situated in the heart of Bilbao allowing supporters to walk to the venue.
"We want everyone to go to Bilbao and have a great time first and foremost - it's a big event people should enjoy it," commented the Chief Constable, who downplayed the risk of fan violence.
"We don't generally see people travelling with the intent to cause violence, when we do have issues it's usually because there's a massive following of people who tend to drink quite a lot.
"When you compare and contrast us with some of the hooligan groups you see on the continent who are intent on causing serious violence then the spotlight really needs to go somewhere else," he concluded. ■
