The Copa del Rey final ticket issue has been resolved in extremis.

BarcelonaWhat was supposed to be a great final for Barcelona fans has almost turned into a nightmare. And not for sporting reasons. The more than 27,000 Barça fans traveling to Seville to watch the Clásico against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey didn't find out until Thursday afternoon that they would be able to enter the Cartuja Stadium. It was an error in the allocation and distribution of tickets that affected only Barça fans. With 72 hours to go until kickoff, the company One Box, hired by the Federation to manage the event, admitted the error. mea culpa And finally, the solution has been found. Now, fans can pack their bags with their tickets in their hands.

The problem was that the numerous Barça tickets didn't arrive correctly to their recipients, even though they had purchased and paid for them within the deadline. In some cases, they hadn't received the email with the link to download the ticket. And in others, they received one directing them to incorrect tickets, with other people's information and locations that didn't correspond to what they had requested. Real Madrid members and fans haven't had the same problem, since the company that distributes their tickets is another one.

It was a "human error in the system" ticketing of the Federation in the administrative management of the list of those awarded with an entry", said the company One Box in a statement, subcontracted by the RFEF to manage all tickets for the final. In the same text, it made it clear that Barça "has no involvement or responsibility" in these events and assured that it was working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. This Thursday at noon, the final tickets began to be sent out.

Named tickets for the Copa del Rey final that, for now, do not grant access to the stadium.

Panic spread on Wednesday. That day, the first emails arrived for those lucky enough to have a seat assigned. However, when they tried to download their ticket, they noticed problems with the names or ID numbers and locations. They immediately contacted the Barcelona Supporter Support Office (OAB), whose switchboard was overwhelmed in a matter of minutes. On Wednesday night, after One Box admitted the error, all the Barça fan tickets were deleted—thus preventing them from being downloaded—while the problem was resolved and the correct ones uploaded.

Beyond the location, the biggest concern for fans is that the tickets are personal. Each person receives their own ticket online, but to enter the stadium, they need to prove that the ticket is theirs with their ID. And since the names or numbers were switched, they wouldn't have been able to do so. Although One Box has corrected the error, Barça issued a statement condemning the incident and threatening to take legal action if the club's legal services advise it.