Real Zaragoza to compensate fans locked out by Andorra FC in half-empty stadium fiasco

Real Zaragoza have stepped up to look after their own after roughly 50 supporters were turned away at the gate by Andorra FC — at a ground that was barely a quarter full.

What actually happened

This one’s a bit of a tale. A Zaragoza fan called David Gracia, who lives in Andorra, saw that fellow supporters were struggling to get tickets within the official away allocation of 140 seats. Being a good sort, he put himself out there on social media and offered to buy tickets on their behalf. He snapped up 45 tickets through what he thought were legitimate means.

Then, on matchday, the hammer came down. Andorra FC cancelled those tickets, citing alleged touting — and refused entry to Gracia, his son, and all the fans he’d helped out. The kicker? The Nou Estadi d’Encamp recorded an attendance of just 2,130, the lowest gate of the entire round. Half the ground was empty, and they were still turning away travelling supporters.

Zaragoza’s response

The club weren’t having it. They put out an official statement making their feelings pretty clear:

• They only found out about the situation moments before kick-off
• They tried to intervene in real time to get the fans inside — and failed
• They described Andorra FC’s decision as causing serious “economic and personal” harm to supporters who’d made the trip for nothing

The compensation offer

To their credit, Zaragoza aren’t just shrugging this off. The club have announced they’ll be contacting each of the affected fans individually and offering them a free invite to one of the next six fixtures — home or away. The options are:

• Home: vs Burgos CF, UD Almería, or Real Racing Club
• Away: at Cádiz CF, RC Deportivo, or CD Leganés

It’s a decent gesture and shows the club actually gives a monkey’s about the supporters who schlep across to watch them.

The bigger picture

Andorra FC’s decision to invoke their right of admission on the basis of supposed touting — when a local fan was clearly just doing his mates a favour — looks pretty shabby, especially with so many empty seats on show. Whether there’s any formal complaint coming down the line from Zaragoza remains to be seen, but the optics for the Principality club aren’t great. Turning away travelling fans while your own supporters clearly couldn’t fill the ground is a difficult look to defend.

For Zaragoza, at least, the right move has been made off the pitch. Now they just need the results to follow on it.