ONE TOUCH SUMMARY
- Como president Mirwan Suwarso and directors are giving up their Champions League debut seats for elderly supporters.
- Como host RB Leipzig on Thursday, their Champions League debut under Cesc Fabregas after finishing fourth in Serie A.
- Como's 12,000-capacity stadium lost 1,000 seats to Uefa broadcasting and operational requirements, leaving demand unmet.
ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Giving up a seat is the easy part. Como have a Champions League side and a stadium that cannot stage its own occasion — the Sinigaglia holds about 12,000, and Uefa's broadcasting and operational requirements shaved another 1,000 off before a single ticket went on sale. Mirwan Suwarso handing his seat to supporters born in 1950 or earlier is a good gesture, and the club earned the sentiment: two bankruptcies in two decades, three promotions in six seasons, a 21-year Serie A wait ended in 2024.
Read it as a symptom, though. Fabregas took this squad to fourth in Serie A and the reward is a league phase running through Manchester United, Paris St-Germain and Barcelona in front of roughly 11,000 people.
The football is not the constraint here. The ground is. Leipzig on Thursday tells you whether Fabregas's side can live at this level, but the club's answer on the Sinigaglia — rebuild it, expand it, or keep squeezing the same 11,000 through the turnstiles — is the part that decides how long Como stay in this competition.
WHY IT MATTERS
Como have climbed from bankruptcy and the lower divisions to Europe's elite in six seasons, and the club's decision to hand executive seats to its oldest fans frames that rise as a reward for loyalty rather than a corporate occasion.
TACTICAL FIT
Tactically the pressure shifts to Fabregas: a 12,000-seat ground and a fixture list including Manchester United, PSG and Barcelona demand a squad built to survive eight European nights without derailing Serie A form.
THE DEBATE
Should clubs reserve Champions League tickets for lifelong fans over wealthy newcomers?
Figure caption,
Europe's next great coach? How Fabregas led Como to Champions League
By Adwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist
- Como president Mirwan Suwarso and several directors are giving up their tickets for the club's Champions League debut to allow elderly supporters to attend.
The Serie A club will host RB Leipzig on Thursday (20:00 BST) after qualifying for the continental competition for the first time in their 119-year history.
They did so by finishing fourth in the Italian top flight last season under former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
However, the demand for tickets for Como's historic European debut has far exceeded the supply.
The club's home venue of Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on the shores of Lake Como has a capacity of about 12,000, but that number was reduced further by 1,000 because of Uefa's broadcasting and operational requirements.
After the tickets were sold out, Indonesian businessman Suwarso has now announced on Instagram that he and other club executives plan to surrender their seats for older fans.
"With the reduced capacity and the limited number of tickets available, unfortunately we cannot accommodate everyone who would have liked to be there," Suwarso wrote.
"However, some club executives and I have decided to give up our seats for this match.
"We want those seats to be allocated to supporters who have waited the longest - fans born in 1950 or earlier, who have followed Como through every division and every era.
"We will be honoured to give up our seat for them."
Mirwan Suwarso has been the president of Como since 2019
Como have enjoyed a remarkable rise in recent years, climbing from the lower divisions to secure a place among Europe's elite.
The Lombardy-based outfit - who have twice gone bankrupt in the past two decades - ended a 21-year wait to reach Serie A in 2024 after a third promotion in six seasons.
They finished 10th in their first season in the top division before former Spain international Fabregas guided them to a top-four finish and a place in the Champions League last term.
After their opener against Leipzig, Como will also face Feyenoord, Manchester United, Lens, AEK Athens, Real Betis, Paris St-Germain and Barcelona in their maiden European campaign.
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Published 28 August
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
AI-assisted · generated from BBC Sport reporting, not editor reviewed
