City fans who travelled last night

Just heard a Superbia member on TS saying they still travelled last night and were offered tickets by Journalists who got some of them into the ground.

He then went on to say - "we've paid £3000 for our membership to get free tickets to all games. Bayern Munich contacted all their supporters who travelled to Moscow to offer them full refunds on their expenses and City should be doing more of the same"

Adrian Durham made a valid point - "City weren't given any tickets for the game as both sets of fans were supposed to be banned from the game, so how is City at fault for fans still trying to get into a game in Moscow, that are officially banned by UEFA?"

I'm all for their enthusiasm and support, and yes, maybe City could give something back to them as a token gesture, but it's hardly City's fault that fans were banned from attending...and anything they do give back could be seen as them being complicit in any illegal entry into a game that fans were banned from.

I don't see how he can make those claims - Superbia member or not.

If you booked the trip before UEFA banned fans, what else could you do? Waste the tickets you bought?

I get that....but to say City should be liable can't be right. It's not City's fault, it's UEFA and CSKA...they should be refunding the cost of air travel, accommodation etc, not City.

Though it would be nice if City offered something in return. But to blame City, for me, is wrong.

And to then try and get access to the stadium, basically negates any potential argument we have, of CSKA fans getting into the stadium.

We went to Moscow,but it was our choice
The club had already offered to host the Superbia card holders at the club in the citizens suite with a bite to eat and the match on a big screen and had said they will refund any flights/accommodation already paid for on proof of purchase,don't see how they could do much more to be honest

Wow, that's pretty decent of them. Not sure what that fan was going on about then, last night.

No I didn't either
My brother is senior management at Kuoni travel and he gets me 5 star hotels half price but there's no paper trail so wouldn't have been able to get a refund plus mrs PPLF didn't give a shit about the football as Moscow was on her bucket list

James Corrigan in The Telegraph

Even Fifa will be looking at Uefa and shaking its head in disbelief. Maybe Sepp Blatter is whispering to himself, “Blimey, this makes so little sense that Michel Platini really must be after my job”.
So Uefa tells CSKA Moscow they have to play Manchester City with no fans present and when there plainly have been some present - cheering and chanting and drinking and doing what fans do – it decides no rule has been broken.
Did Uefa not believe the evidence of its own ears? Is it concerned that any retribution might be erroneous if it emerges that these were not Moscow supporters shouting “Give us a C, give us an S”, but bored officials playing their own version of Countdown?
Is Uefa mindful that the wild euphoria in the stands in the 88th minute might not have been in response to the CSKA equaliser, but to someone finally locating the tea-bags? Alas, none of the above. Uefa lifted the Axminster and swept furiously because it knows who the culprit is – itself.
Uefa’s pathetic pandering to sponsors, or, as it nauseatingly calls them, “partners”, is wholly to blame.

This is a measure of modern football greed for you. When Uefa delivers a “behind-closed-doors” verdict against a club for repeated racist abuse, it still issues 300 sponsors’ tickets, but employs no check where they end up. Well, it would be rude to question one’s partners wouldn’t it?
Yet when it is giving these partners the hard sell – whether they be “official broadcast partners”, “official credit card partners” or “official car-maker partners” – could not Uefa politely place in the small print that sorry, if there is a ban on fans then that includes anyone who does not need to be in the stadium? Surely, it would not influence the bottom line too severely. But no, the bottom line must not be moved. And nor must the VIPs from their padded seats.
Uefa should simply scrap what even Blatter, the patron saint of highly dubious punishments, refers to as a “highly dubious punishment”. Because it does not work.
As City captain Vincent Kompany said in the aftermath, it can punish the innocent and not the guilty, particularly if away fans are excluded and home fans are allowed in to form a vocal force.
In the paranoia not to be seen as making excuses, Kompany denied that this small, but very partisan band affected the result. Except nobody knows that for certain. At that level, the margins are so fine as to be indistinguishable. The fact is that as a direct result of Yaya Touré being racially abused by sections of the CSKA support two years ago, his team were forced to play in front of a crowd 100 per cent against them. Absurd does not begin to describe the scenario or Uefa’s reaction.
Kompany’s query was entirely valid: who exactly were being disadvantaged? Uefa refers to the cost incurred by CSKA due to ticket revenue. Yet it is utterly perverse for Uefa to claim it is financially punishing a club to whom it will be giving somewhere in the region of £13 million merely to play in the group stages. This is the same as the economic hit caused by direct fines to clubs – irrelevant and completely ineffective.
As ever, it is the fans who cannot afford it who end up paying.
Football Supporters Europe, which is the world’s biggest fan organisation and which, get this, is considered by Uefa to be a “partner” on supporter issues, has long railed against the sanction, pointing out in a report published more than three years ago, that not only are away fans unfairly punished but so are the home supporters “not involved in the problematic behaviour” and “who even oppose it”.
“That group of supporters, who could be part of the solution, are treated as part of the problem, and suffer from the sanctions imposed, alienating them from the process,” FSE added. “It is a universal social principle that frustration never creates a positive or cooperative reflex.”
Wise words from FSE, which actually went on to predict this Russian farce. “While supporters are not allowed in the stands, the club is still able to invite a certain amount of supporters into its VIP section,” it said. Never mind that fans are there when they should not be, it leads to discrimination between supporters and so the dissension intensifies.
FSE called for “behind closed doors” to be abolished and perhaps be replaced with something meaningful such as points deductions. At the very least, the group pleaded for Uefa to make one reasonable concession. “If playing a match behind closed doors is still in use,” it wrote, “then only club officials should be allowed in.”
Did Uefa listen? Did it hell and will it hell. That might involve taking a privilege away from its sacred “partners”. Yes, in football, money and influence can get a fan anywhere. Even past locked turnstiles to turn a so-called punishment into an advantage.

How many of the partners were actually there and how many sold their tickets on the black market?

As said about the City fan on TS.....he was being offered tickets outside the ground by Russian journalists....so I guess those 300+ tickets were just given away to whoever, therefore, the point of the article is correct.

Why give sponsors tickets to a game that has been declared a 'ban on fans'?

If this had happened at the Etihad, I'll guarantee you, UEFA wouldn't have dismissed the issue within 24 hours....we'd be getting blamed by UEFA for allowing tickets to fall into the hands of City fans without any checks.

A points deduction is the only way.  Except they've only got one point, so in this instance it should be a removal from the competition and their prize money split between the other teams in their group.

It's a shame, because I'm sure there are loads of decent CSKA fans who hate what a section of supporters do, but it's up to the club to do more to get rid of them.

Agree, a ban from the competition is the way to go - especially for 'repeat' offenders, which CSKA are. That would soon make clubs with 'racist' problems, start getting rid of the culprits.

This was the email from the club


I am writing to you as one of a small group of supporters affected by UEFA’s decision in relation to the CSKA Moscow game to be played in Moscow on Tuesday 21 October 2014.

The Club is currently in dialogue with UEFA on the issue of non-refundable costs incurred by supporters. The information that you have provided on non-refundable travel, accommodation and visa costs has now been passed to UEFA, in order that they are fully informed on how the decision has affected you and other travelling supporters.

In the interest of your safety and security, we strongly recommend that you do not travel to Moscow for the first team or UEFA Youth League match earlier in the day. We have received reports of security issues involving fans from other away teams in Moscow.

Both you and supporters that you were due to travel with are invited to attend an exclusive event at the Etihad Stadium on the afternoon of Tuesday 21st October. Commencing at 4pm, the event will be attended by a former player and will include a hot/cold buffet, complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks with a live screening of the City v CSKA Moscow match, from 5pm.

As the lead supporter who provided the proof of travel to us, where you were due to travel with other supporters, please can you advise them of this invitation? If you can confirm the names of all those that will be attending the event no later than 12-noon on Friday 17 October, further information will follow. Please note this event is exclusive to those that provided proof of travel.

We hope you will be able to join us.

You can't ask for fairer than that from the club. Seems they have tried to do whatever they can to help fans who were due to go.

Shame this type of info isn't passed to the national press.