Benitez: FA should help Reds fans
Benitez: FA should help Reds fans
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Wednesday, 10, May 2006 09:02
Rafael Benitez has urged the Football Association to help the 1,600 Liverpool fans who had their FA Cup final tickets stolen.
The tickets for the match in Cardiff against West Ham were taken from a postal delivery van last Friday.
The FA has cancelled the tickets and refused to re-issue new ones.
But Benitez told BBC Sport: "This is not fair. They need to find a solution because we cannot afford to lose those supporters.
"If you have been watching the team for the whole season and have tickets you must be there."
Fans who had paid for the tickets have been warned by police against buying from touts as anyone with a stolen ticket is liable to arrest.
FA officials liaised with officials but the stadium's Safety Advisory Group - comprising members of the police and fire services and Cardiff County Council - would not re-issue the tickets.
A statement from the FA read: "The FA has looked at every way of helping the fans affected.
"The Safety Advisory Group, which has the final say on all safety and security matters for matches at the stadium, has maintained a no-duplicates policy. The police have also stressed that anyone found in possession of a stolen ticket will be arrested."
Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster has called for culture secretary Tessa Jowell to look into the matter, although it is understood that government intervention is extremely unlikely.