Barcelona president Joan Laporta has apologised and pledged to revamp the club's ticketing system after thousands of Eintracht Frankfurt fans gained entry to the home section at Camp Nou in their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.
More than 30,000 Eintracht fans were believed to have attended the game despite the German club only being officially allocated 5,000.
The Bundesliga side secured a shock 3-2 victory to progress 4-3 on aggregate and set up a semi-final meeting with West Ham.
What was said?
Laporta said anyone with a German address or German credit card were unable to purchase general sale tickets, meaning the tickets were originally purchased by Barcelona supporters before being sold on to Eintracht fans.
However, Laporta said the club still takes responsibility and will take action to try and ensure it does not happen again.
"We feel really bad, it was shameful,” he said. "[The club] is not guilty in regards to events leading to the tickets ending up in the hands of German fans. However, we do assume the responsibility that falls to us.
“Whoever knows me is aware that I always assume responsibility and look for solutions. We do not want this to happen again at Barca and we will take action”
Laporta confirmed that from now on any tickets purchased for European competition will be non-transferable, meaning only the named ticket-holders will be able to gain entry to the stadium.
"This is action that we have never wanted to take because it is inconvenient for members and Barca fans who follow the rules,” he added.
"I am appalled by the image presented and feel ashamed as this should never have happened.
“The club is not to blame for people breaking the rules, we applied all the measures we could to avoid it but there are people who consider that they have to do it despite the damage to the club and the fans and members who came to support the team at Camp Nou.”
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