Thousands of AC Milan fans trying to reach Athens for Wednesday's Champions League final looked set to be held up by airport strikes on Tuesday.
A protest by Alitalia cabin crews coincided with an Italian air traffic controllers' strike meaning nearly 400 flights by the national carrier were cancelled. The industrial action threatened to affect up to 7,000 soccer fans planning to fly to Wednesday's showpiece against Liverpool.
Italy's civil aviation authority, ENAC, said it was working hard to restrict the impact on Milan supporters especially. "We are trying to find a solution which favours the departure of the fans and therefore prevents any problems with public order," a statement said.
"ENAC has already sent to ENAV (air traffic control) a list of the flights from Italian airports to Athens with the demand... that they are inserted in timetables that are guaranteed to operate." Milan, along with Liverpool, have only been allocated 17,000 tickets for the match.
WINNER COULD POCKET 100 MILLION EUROS:
The winner of Wednesday's Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool could earn as much as 100 million euros in rising sponsorship and TV deals, increased players' values and higher ticket sales, an international survey showed on Tuesday.
The survey, commissioned by MasterCard, one of the sponsors of the Champions League, also showed the victorious club's home city could expect a significant cash injection.
The city of Liverpool made an estimated 70 million euros following the club's 2005 win against AC Milan, while Portugal's Porto enjoyed an estimated 12 million boost after the team's 2004 victory.
"The experts found that the winning club is likely to enjoy increased sponsorship, TV revenue, gate receipts and player value - although the estimated reward of up to 100 million (euros) is less than many of Europe's top clubs have spent on transfers and wages in the past few seasons," the company said in a statement. The study conducted by KRC Research polled 12 leading European football and business experts including economists, academics and football commentators.
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