Online football tickets for £5,000

By Simon Atkinson
Business reporter, BBC News

Manchester United fans will travel en masse to the Moscow final

Football fans are being offered tickets to Wednesday's crunch Champions League semi-final for more than £5,000 each.

The sell-out clash at Stamford Bridge will determine whether Chelsea or Liverpool will face Manchester United in the all-England final in Moscow next month.

And secondary ticketing websites are looking to cash in on demand, with another site demanding £1,230 for a seat among the Liverpool fans.

'Old Trafford, London'

Not all websites are as well informed as they should be.

Under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, it is illegal for UK firms to sell on football tickets over the internet.

However firms based outside the UK are not covered by the legislation.

US ticket website Cheap-tickets4u is advertising category one tickets for Wednesday's Stamford Bridge clash at $10,600 (£5,385)

Meanwhile, the price at 1st4 Football Tickets UK ranges from £422.50, for a seat with a restricted view, to £780 for a ticket that includes a pre-match meal

'Unprecedented'

At more than £5,000 each, Cheap-Tickets4u is not living up to its name

Tickets for the Champion's League final, on May 21, are already on sale for between £1,300 and £5,100 even before tonight's match has been decided.

US website TicketSolutions.com is offering one ticket for £5,080, while Cheap-tickets4u has final tickets ranging from £1,250 to £3,171 - with a warning that they may not be delivered until shortly before the game.

Their face value price ranges from 80 euros to 200 euros (£63 to 158)

However, ticket costs are just the beginning for supporters hoping to see their side lift the trophy.

If they want a Russian visa, travelling fans will need to secure confirmed accommodation and a flight booking.

Shut shop

There are fears that the sheer volume of visas needed for the 40,000 fans travelling from England means that they will not be issued in time for the final - despite pledges from Russian authorities to fast-track applications.

Fans await visa guidance

Flights to Moscow on the day of the final, returning the following day cost more than £800 per person.

Supporters travelling with charter flights approved by the Manchester United have been told they will benefit from "an unprecedented facilitated visa procedure that will be detailed in the days to come".

If it qualifies for the final Liverpool is offering day and two night packages from a range of UK airports, starting from £846 per person inclusive of match ticket. Chelsea says it has similar plans in place.