Tickets for Friday night’s football clash between Malta and England only took ten days to sell out. However, fans desperate to watch the game at the Ta’ Qali stadium can still find a ticket on the black market  – for a significantly bloated price. 

Lovin Malta spoke to one such selller, who described the current situation as a “racket” – some Maltese people had bought a glut of tickets at the regular prices as soon as they were made available and are now making a tidy profit off them. 

Tickets for a spot at the South End Core, where the Maltese support base is loudest, were originally going for €20, but are now being sold on the black market for around €60 but even as high as €100. 

Tickets for a seat at the Millennium Stand, originally priced at €40, are now going for around €100. 

Malta Football Association president Norman Darmanin Demajo said there was nothing he could do to prevent this black market, as the MFA has no intention of limiting the number of tickets people can buy online. 

“Whoever wanted to buy a ticket from us managed to find one because they were available for ten days,” he told Lovin Malta. “Those who just thought ‘u iva, I’ll just pay it on the day’ didn’t find and now have to pay a higher price or watch it on TV. When demand exceeds supply, a black market always forms and there is nothing you can do about it.”

He said tickets sold out quickly because there was a high demand for them from the English FA, and indeed English fans have been allocated the whole of the North Stand (some 4,000 seats) and EFA sponsors will be seated in the West Stand. 

He said tickets sold out quickly because there was a high demand for them from the English FA, and indeed English fans have been allocated the whole of the North Stand (some 4,000 seats) and EFA sponsors will be seated in the West Stand. 

This is despite a Fifa guideline stating home teams are only obliged to give the away side 15% of the tickets if their stadium has a capacity less than 30,000 people. 

“These percentages are mere guidelines, but we must also take into account ticket demand, stadium layouts and security arrangements,” Darmanin Demajo said “When Italy played here, the Italian FA had only wanted 500 tickets which put us in a tricky situation because if we had given them half an enclosure we’d have effectively wasted 500 spots.

“However, there was a high demand from the English FA this time. If we had given English fans just 15% of tickets, then we would have had to give them half the North Stand and place them next to Maltese fans, which would have been a security concern. Separating fans is paramount.”

He said most of the people buying tickets on the black market are English fans, arguing England has a culture whereby fans can easily buy tickets from venders outside the stadium for inflated price. However, the Facebook event for the football game shows a number of Maltese fans are also still searching for tickets. 

The game, a qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, will be Malta’s first competitive home game against England since 1971 when they narrowly lost 1-0 courtesy of a goal by Martin Peters.

England beat Malta 2-0 in the home leg of the tie last year, courtesy of goals by Dele Ali and Daniel Sturrridge, in what was Gareth Southgate’s first game in charge as England manager. 

Tag a friend who is willing to pay this amount of money to attend the Malta-England game

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]