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Thursday, 15 February 2007, 12:25 GMT

San Siro will play host to Celtic

AC Milan's San Siro stadium Celtic's Champions League tie against AC Milan will go ahead at the San Siro Stadium after new security measures were implemented.

Uefa has confirmed the match on 7 March will be played in front of a limited number of spectators.

The exact capacity is still to be determined, but 4,500 seats will be reserved for Celtic fans.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has urged fans without tickets not to travel.

About 5,000 Hoops supporters are thought to have made plans to travel to Italy without being allocated a ticket by the club.

Celtic claimed the capacity would be about 40,000, but Milan hope to have this increased.

And the Scottish champions said their allocation of 4,850 tickets remained in place.

"The club would like to stress very strongly that Celtic supporters should not travel to Italy unless they have purchased a ticket through official Celtic FC channels"
Celtic chairman Peter Lawell

Lawwell told the club's official website: "We are pleased that our supporters will be able to attend this match as initially planned and look forward to an exciting game in the San Siro.

"Celtic officials, together with representatives of Strathclyde Police, will be travelling to Italy to meet with AC Milan and the Italian authorities to ensure that we are satisfied with all arrangements put in place for this match."

Representatives of Celtic have also been invited to attend the forthcoming Inter Milan v Valencia Champions League match on Wednesday to observe matchday arrangements.

Milan's rivals will play their knockout round first-leg match against Valencia next Wednesday at the San Siro.

The permitted capacity for Inter's game will be 36,000, including 1,800 tickets for the Spanish fans.

"Celtic supporters have an impeccable record of behaviour and we are sure that our fans will play their part in making this match another great European occasion for the club," said Lawwell.

"Again, the club would like to stress very strongly that Celtic supporters should not travel to Italy unless they have purchased a ticket through official Celtic FC channels."

Doubt arose over the venue for the fixture after new measures were introduced in Italian football following the death of a policeman during a game in Sicily.

Football in the country was suspended and there was a possibility that the game against Celtic would be played behind closed doors or moved to a neutral venue.

A crowd of 21,000 Milan season ticket holders watched Milan beat Livorno on Sunday after 28 new turnstiles were installed.

However, more work must still be done before full capacity will be allowed at the venue.

Scotland play Italy in Bari on 28 March and that stadium also fails to measure up to the new standards imposed by the Italian government.

But Uefa expect that new safety measures would also be in place there in time for that match.

New security measures include a ban on the block sale of tickets to away fans, a beefing-up of stadium bans for those involved in violence at grounds and a ban on financial or working relationships between clubs and fan associations.




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Related to this story:

Six Italian stadiums get go-ahead (08 Feb 07 |  Football )
Italy youth quizzed on riot death (08 Feb 07 |  Europe )
Italy approves hooligan measures (07 Feb 07 |  Football )
Italian football may make return (06 Feb 07 |  Football )
Italian fans face stadium lockout (05 Feb 07 |  Europe )
In pictures: Italy football violence (03 Feb 07 |  Football )
Strachan happy with AC Milan draw (15 Dec 06 |  Celtic )

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