In a bid to continue the curtailment of its overall costs, Manchester United management is reportedly refusing to pay for the costs of club staff members’ friends and family to watch the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.
Amidst the quandary, club manager Ruben Amorim has stepped in and offered to bear the costs of 30 members of the backroom staff. Football clubs usually offer to pay for friends and family members of the backroom staff to attend big-ticket finals.
But with United currently undertaking a raft of severe cost-cutting measures, the club has reportedly told their coaches, physiotherapists, and support staff that there will be no complimentary tickets for next week’s final at Estadio San Mamés. Instead, staff members were told they could purchase up to two tickets from the club’s allocation of 15,000 seats for the game.
The New York Times reported that even Manchester United’s players have only been granted two complimentary tickets for their family members to attend the final.
Earlier in the year, Manchester United cut jobs and shut down the staff canteen at Old Trafford. It had also stopped the free lunches being offered to staff and instead offered them fruit. At Manchester United’s Carrington training base, players receive lunch as gratis while staff members are now offered soup and bread. Manchester United’s drastic financial belt-tightening measures come after five straight years of financial losses for the club. Both United and Tottenham are looking at the Europa League final as a face-saver for a season of woe, where they are currently in 16th and 17th spots in the Premier League, just above the relegation spots.
United has suffered more defeats this season than in any campaign since the Premier League was launched in 1992. The joint-record 20-time English champion is also certain to record its worst-ever points total in that period, as well as its lowest finish.
