Council urges help for fans whose FA Cup tickets were stolen

The Liverpool City Council has asked that fans whose FA Cup final tickets have been stolen be able to attend Saturday’s match against West Ham.
 
A total of 1,600 tickets were taken from a delivery van while the postman was delivering to Everton FC last Friday. Millennium Stadium officials said that duplicate tickets will not be issued, and those with stolen tickets will not be allowed to attend.
 
Councillor Berni Turner said the football authorities had a moral duty to fans, and the council called upon the stadium to allow entry to those with missing tickets. A stadium spokesman said their position on the matter is unchanged.
 
The stolen tickets have been cancelled for the game against West Ham United. Officials from Liverpool Football Club are talking to the Football Association in an effort to help fans who could miss the match.
 
"Just because it will be difficult to replace these tickets does not mean that the FA and the Millennium Stadium just write off the dreams of 1,600 Liverpool supporters," said Turner, who is responsible for Trading Standards. "The FA and the Millennium Stadium have had since last Friday to sort this out and have now got three days to resolve this issue.
"We are not asking them to perform miracles, but it cannot be beyond their ability to sort this mess out."
 
She added, "Are they really saying that if all of the Liverpool allocation of tickets had been stolen or lost between the FA and Anfield that the stadium would have been half empty?"
 
Council Trading Standards Manager Alan Auty said fans may be able to sue the FA due to a change brought about by European Union law.
 
"Whereas before the risk was the buyers, in consumer contracts it is now the seller who is liable for failure to deliver," Auty said. "However, this would be little consolation to fans who desperately want to see the final."