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Following a 2-0 victory for Bayern Munich in Athens, AEK Athens found themselves on the outside looking in on a Champions League group in which they failed to earn a point. Adding insult to injury, the Athenians now must repay the Bavarian giants for gouging Bayern’s away fans on ticket prices.
According to Kicker, disciplinary proceedings were opened following the match for a violation of Article 19 of the UEFA safety and security regulations. Article 19 (3) requires home clubs to offer away tickets for a value equivalent to what home fans pay. It emerged that the travelling Südkurve had to pay €35 per ticket, about €15 more than home supporters. UEFA determined that the Athenian club would be required to pay back €10 per ticket— totaling €32,800.
As many may recall, Die Roten were embroiled in a similar controversy last season in a group stage match against RSC Anderlecht. Bayern were fined for a protest expressing disgust at even more egregious price gouging, while Anderlecht were required to repay €30 for each ticket.
AEK are also likely to be punished for crowd violence that took place just weeks later during the match against Ajax Amsterdam. Not the best showing for a side that qualified for its first Champions League group stage in 12 years.