The fans of Liverpool and Real Madrid must prepare to pay up to 1600 euros per air journey if they want to see their team in the final

While the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, is being prepared to welcome Liverpool and Real Madrid in the final of the biggest European club tournament, the companies, which are responsible for transporting and hosting the more than 33 thousand fans -who will travel to enjoy the match-, have decided to capitalize on the high demand of the moment by inflating their prices indiscriminately.

The rise has been resounding. A week after the game, which will be held on May 26, people can find a hotel room in the city center for 16 euros, while during the final, the same room, for one night and for one person, will cost 5,445 euros. This means that for the case of this hotel room, the price during the final of the Champions League will be 118 times higher than its usual price.

The increase in airfare is also alarming. A flight from Manchester to Kiev, which Liverpool fans would probably take their flight to see their team, going on the day of the final and returning the day after, costs around 1,600 euros each way. A week later, the same flight, operated by Turkish Airlines, costs only 240 euros for both trips.

Tony Barrett, leader of the Liverpool fan association, believes that the decision to make the final in Kiev should be questioned: "Carrying out the final in such a costly and difficult to access place is an alternative that must be explained by those who they took it."

Barrett assures, in addition, that the fans of Liverpool are those who will have to pay the highest prices, because the fans of Real Madrid, who qualified a day earlier, had better opportunities at the time of making their preparations.

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The situation has been lent to abuses by the hosting companies to their customers, since reservations that had been made months in advance at reasonable prices, are now being canceled to accommodate those who are willing to pay more.

Stephen, a Liverpool fan who made his reservations at a hotel in Kiev two months ago through the Booking.com page, anticipating the possibility of his team reaching the final, received a notice of cancellation by the hotel without any explanation The room that he separated IGNORE INTO a 3-star hotel in the capital of Ukraine cost 77 euros at the time, after the cancellation, the same room came to cost 4,181 euros.

As in Stephen's case, there have been many. The Spanish media Marca reports that a hotel canceled all existing reservations between May 25 and 27 because of a supposed computer virus that infected their systems on the first day of this month, while another hotel said that there would be no water or electricity at that time due to prophylactic works.

In response to this situation, which outraged fans of both teams, residents of the city of Kiev mobilized on social networks to provide free accommodation to those who will travel to see the game.

Victor Kylymar, who organized one of the Facebook groups destined for this purpose, declared himself "shocked and saddened" when he saw that the hotels in his city inflated their prices to take advantage of the situation. His group already has more than 5,000 members, many of whom will find a solution to the difficulties brought to them by both airlines and lodging companies.

Latin American Post | Pedro Bernal
Translated from "La astronómica inflación que trajo la Champions League a Kiev"