In football, emotions usually concentrate on what happens on the pitch. However, increasingly intense disputes are also taking place off it, in the legal sphere. One such issue concerns fans’ access to matches, and more specifically, the question of whether a club may refuse to sell a ticket.

In recent months, this issue has become particularly prominent in Poland in relation to supporters of Wisła Kraków, who have repeatedly been denied the opportunity to attend away matches. The matter has sparked debate not only within the football community but also among lawyers specialising in sports and consumer law. It has also attracted the attention of public institutions.

This situation demonstrates that the modern football fan is not merely a spectator of a sporting event but also a consumer who, by purchasing a ticket, enters into a contract with the event organiser. At the same time, football matches are subject to specific regulations concerning the safety of mass events as well as rules established by sports governing bodies, which means that access to stadiums may be restricted only in situations provided for by law.

This raises an important question: can a football club freely refuse to sell a ticket to a supporter?

The Fan as a Consumer

From a legal perspective, purchasing a ticket for a match constitutes the conclusion of a contract between the event organiser and the spectator. The ticket serves as confirmation of this agreement, under which the organiser undertakes to grant access to the event, while the fan undertakes to pay the specified price.

As a consumer, a fan benefits from the protections provided by the Consumer Rights Act, including the obligation to provide clear information about the terms of sale, the prohibition of discriminatory practices, and the requirement to properly perform the contract.

Obligation to Provide Seats for Away Supporters

In Polish football, Resolution No. II/85 of the Management Board of the Polish Football Association of 20 February 2013 regulates the participation of away supporters in matches of central-level competitions organised by the Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej and Ekstraklasa S.A.

Under this resolution, the home club is required to allocate at least 5% of the stadium’s capacity for supporters of the visiting team.

However, the resolution also provides for exceptions. A home club may refuse to admit an organised group of away supporters only in specific circumstances, including:

• on the basis of a decision by competent state or local authorities,
• on the basis of a decision by the relevant bodies of the Polish Football Association,
• where there are real and documented grounds indicating a potential threat to the safety of participants or to the proper conduct of the match.

In practice, this means that the club’s decision alone is not sufficient, it must be based on specific legal grounds.W praktyce oznacza to, że sama decyzja klubu nie wystarcza, musi ona opierać się na konkretnych podstawach prawnych.

The Act on the Safety of Mass Events

The most commonly invoked legal basis for refusing to sell a ticket is the Act on the Safety of Mass Events.

Under this legislation, the organiser of a mass event may refuse to sell a ticket to a person who has been subject to a stadium ban or a ban on attending mass events, as well as to individuals subject to a club ban or a foreign stadium ban. Refusal is also permitted where, based on information provided, for example by the police or security services, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person may pose a threat to the safety of the event.

This mechanism is intended to protect event participants. However, legal scholars have raised concerns about how these provisions are applied. The key issue is that the regulation was designed to allow for an individual assessment of a specific person, rather than to justify a blanket ban imposed on an entire group of supporters.

For this reason, widespread refusals to sell tickets, without assessing individual cases, may raise doubts in light of the principles of proportionality and equal treatment.

The Case of Wisła Kraków Supporters

A clear example of these tensions is the situation involving supporters of Wisła Kraków. Since 2023, several clubs have refused to admit them to away matches, often citing security concerns or organisational issues related to stadium infrastructure.

The matter became significant enough to attract the attention of the Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów and the Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich. The Ombudsman pointed out that the complete exclusion of a group of supporters could violate the principle of proportionality and raise constitutional concerns.

Ultimately, however, the President of UOKiK concluded that there were no grounds to intervene under the framework of protecting the collective interests of consumers. According to the authority, the matter concerned a specific group of supporters in particular matches rather than all potential consumers in the market.

The Boundary Between Safety and Consumer Rights

The dispute over match tickets illustrates an interesting intersection between sports law and consumer law.

On the one hand, event organisers must ensure the safety of participants. On the other hand, they cannot arbitrarily exclude customers solely because they identify with a particular club.

In practice, the key issue is therefore not whether a club may refuse to sell a ticket, but whether it has sufficient and proportionate legal grounds to do so.

If the refusal results from specific decisions of competent authorities or from a genuine security risk, it may be justified. However, if it is merely a response to pressure from fan communities or an attempt to circumvent applicable regulations, it may violate both sports law principles and consumer protection rules.

Conclusion

Disputes concerning supporters’ access to stadiums demonstrate that sport increasingly intersects with consumer law, civil law, and market regulation. In many cases, properly assessing such situations requires analysing several areas of law simultaneously.

Our law firm specialises in competition law, sports law, and civil law. We are happy to assist in resolving legal issues related to sport and activities within the sports market.

Sources:

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2. Ustawa o prawach konsumenta. (2014). Ustawa z dnia 30 maja 2014 r. o prawach konsumenta. Dz.U. 2014 poz. 827. 
3. Ustawa o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych. (2009). Ustawa z dnia 20 marca 2009 r. o bezpieczeństwie imprez masowych. Dz.U. 2009 Nr 62, poz. 504.
4. Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej. (2013). Uchwała nr II/85 Zarządu PZPN z dnia 20 lutego 2013 r. w sprawie przyjęcia regulaminu bezpieczeństwa na meczach piłki nożnej.
5. Przybył, J. (2011). Kiedy mniej kibiców gości na stadionie. Rzeczpospolita.
   https://www.rp.pl/prawo-dla-ciebie/art5848151-kiedy-mniej-kibicow-gosci-na-stadionie
6. Szymaniak, P. (2026). Prezes UOKiK nie zainterweniuje w sprawie kibiców Wisły? Mogą dochodzić swoich praw na drodze cywilnej. Rzeczpospolita.
   https://www.rp.pl/konsumenci/art43928101-prezes-uokik-nie-zainterweniuje-w-sprawie-kibicow-wisly-moga-dochodzic-swoich-praw-na-drodze-cywilnej