Ticket sales start for Women's Champions League final

Hungary will host the UEFA Women's Champions League Final for the first time: on May 18th, the two best women's club teams on the continent will contest the competition's trophy in the Ferencváros Stadium. The build-up to the event of the year in women's football started on the International Women's Day, March 8th, and the tickets for the showpiece event can now be bought for as little as 700 HUF.

The match on May 18th will be historic because it will be the first time ever that the men's and women's finals of Euopean football's premier club competition have taken place at separate times in separate venues.

Tickets for the match can be bought in person at TEX ticket agency offices, online at meccsjegy.mlsz.hu or on the UEFA website.

Tickets are available in the following price categories:

Alongside the length of the pitch: 1000 HUF

Alongside the length of the pitch for those aged under 16 years: 700 HUF

Behind the goals: 700 HUF

Behind the goals: 500 HUF

The final may also have a Hungarian connection since Zsanett Jakabfi, who plays her football for Wolfsburg, is also a Hungarian national-team member. Wolfsburg's quarter-final opponents in this season's compeition are French club Lyon, who feature in their ranks Hungarian-born, Germany international forward Dzsenifer Marozsán.

Judit Berkesi, Budapest's ambassador for the Champions League final, attended Friday's press conference held to annnounce the beginning of ticket sales; and she was joined by MTK's Réka Szőcs and Ferencváros' Evelin Fenyvesi, both Hungarian international footballers; Edina Markó, Hungary's women's national-team coach; Katalin Kulcsár, 2016 UEFA Women's Champions League final referee, and Célia Sasic, former Germany international and winner of the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League with FFC Frankfurt. Also in attendance were former Hungarian international footballers Ágnes Bárfy, Piroska Boros Bukovszkiné and András Telek, the latter from the men's game, as well as para swimmer Katalin Engelhardt, who is a Paralympic champion, world champion and two-time European champion.

"The Ferencváros stadium is an ideal location to hold the UEFA Women's Champions League Final because the size is appropriate and the players will feel good here because they'll be close to the fans. I have very pleasant experiences of playing in such compact stadia", admitted Célia Sasic. "The 2015 final is etched in my memory; it is a very special feeling to play in a Champins League final, especially at home, as in my case, in Berlin. This is also an important message for girls who watch the match from afar; that we don't give up on our dreams and don't allow ourselves to be discouraged. Football is the same at every level and the love of the game is important. The final is about this and I would like to see female footballers be role models to young girls playing the game too".

"As a former women's footballer, it is a big deal that I will see a Champions League final in Budapest in my lifetime. Be sure to come out for the match!", urged Piroska Boros Bukovszkiné, formerly a player for Ferencvárosi László Hospital SC. Her former national-team colleague Ágnes Bárfy added that many girls will start to play football after the excitement of the final.

In recent years, women's football has made many advances. Today, fortunately, playing football has become cool for girls and this is very good to see', emphasised Piroska Boros Bukovszkiné.

Judit Berkesi, Budapest's ambassador for the Champions League final, spoke of her belief that women's football deserves the limelight and that women's matches can become as attractive as men's football.