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Manchester United will pay £350 towards the travel and accommodation costs of each supporter who bought an away ticket for their Europa League round-of-16 first leg against LASK Linz tonight.

United's tie in Austria will be played behind closed doors due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, though a number of travelling supporters have still flown to Linz.

The Austrian government has restricted tonight's 'attendance' at the Linz Stadion to no more than 500 people and almost 700 United supporters who bought tickets through the club will be entitled to the fixed sum of £350.

United said in a statement: "The payment is being made in recognition of the late stage at which the decision was made to play behind closed doors, due to a directive from the Austrian government, and the fact that, for many supporters, their costs will be non-refundable.

"Payments will be made automatically to the cards that were used by supporters to purchase their tickets, within the next five days. We can confirm that the sum will be paid to all supporters who purchased match tickets through the club, irrespective of whether they travelled.

"This was considered the most practical approach because of the bureaucratic burden that would have been involved in a narrower eligibility criteria, and because of the fact that even those who travelled ultimately could not attend the game which was the purpose of their trip.

"This one-off decision reflects the unique circumstances around the LASK game; fans are urged to closely follow the latest developments and UK government advice regarding coronavirus when planning travel to any games in the future.

"The initiative reflects our appreciation of the phenomenal support we receive from our travelling supporters."

In November, United put on a chartered flight for supporters travelling back from the Europa League match against Astana in Kazakhstan following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening was dominated by discussions surrounding COVID-19, and United have scaled back their staff list for the Linz tie.

"I would understand, yes, under the circumstances," Solskjaer said on the possibility of the campaign being suspended. "Of course it’s up to the experts to decide and the main concern must be the health of the general public and the decision that will be made we will back.

"The players are focused and just concentrated on the job, of course these are difficult circumstances, not just for football but in the whole society. For us, we just have to do what we’re told, and get on with the game if that’s what the authorities think we should do. They’ve been the same, they’ve prepared for the game as we normally do.

"We don’t know what’s going to happen. We just have to get on with it when we can. I think football is for fans. Without fans we’re nothing anyway. The game should always be for them. It’s still gonna be on the telly. But tomorrow or next week we might get a different message or next week or in two weeks’ time. Of course it is a difficult situation, but the boys have been very good, just focusing on the job at hand and that’s what we have to do as a club.

"We have not had any tests. That will be for the experts and our doctor, if he decides to, but we have had no reason so far, from my understanding.

"At the moment I’m not aware of any decisions being made about next week’s game. But we do as a club and a group take all precautions but we have to wait for the authorities and government to make their decision on the games going forward."