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David Bindefeld, a 74-year-old Spurs fan and season ticket holder, saw his dream night in Madrid quite literally taken away from him and sold to a Liverpool fan.

The pensioner, who remembers well Bill Nicholson's double-winning side of 1961, had waited his entire life to watch his team play in a European Cup final.

When Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs reached the Champions League final to take on Liverpool he got himself a ticket along with his daughter Susie and son Mark and they set off for Madrid.

However, on the day of the match everything went wrong on the way to the Estadio Metropolitano.

"He believed this would be the last time he would ever see his beloved club play in a European final. This was his life," Susie explained to football.london.

"Then he had his ticket stolen in Madrid on the way to the ground. We just could not get him to take one of our tickets. He was too proud to take one of them as he felt at fault.

"We were told there was nothing that could be done if your ticket is stolen and there seemed to be no way of getting the real ticket holder into the ground. It was horrific.

"He ended up sitting outside the ground, in tears, listening to the crowd for updates with no other way to watch the game and when we got inside the ground we found we were sitting next to a Liverpool fan, who was in my dad's seat."

The duo confronted the Liverpool fan who claimed he had been sold the ticket by someone named James and provided he them with the tout's mobile number.

"We reported what happened in Madrid to the police and the ticket office," said Susie. "Neither were interested and we could only find one steward inside the ground who appeared to have no power or say in doing anything about the guy sat in my dad’s seat.

"We are so very proud of our boys for reaching the final of the biggest club competition in the world and wanted to enjoy it all together. However we had the opportunity ripped away from us, and it's quite likely the very last chance we could have travelled altogether to such a historic event, even if the boys repeat the feat in the next few seasons, due to my dad’s age."

She added: "The ticket system is massively broken and stuck in the 1990s. To be told there’s nothing that can be done and it's the victim's fault, not the perpetrator's as we sat next to a Liverpool fan buying off the black market is just plain wrong.

"There were no names on the tickets, no identification needed, just nothing. It's all reliant on a bit of paper that cannot be replaced. How can this happen in 2019?"

Tottenham went on to lose the match 2-0 to Liverpool and football.london understands that Spurs had two members of club staff working at an officially designated collection point outside the stadium in Madrid and that information was emailed to all ticket holders in the week ahead of the game.

A handful of people reported stolen or lost tickets to the collection point and most were allowed in to watch the game.

A club spokesman said: "As the Champions League Final was a game organised by UEFA and hosted at a neutral venue, UEFA alone were responsible for all ticketing policies. Our allocation of tickets was issued to us on the basis of compliance with these policies.

"The club does not tolerate ticket touting in any form. If evidence surfaces which identifies the tout in question as a supporter on our database, we shall look to take the strongest possible action.



"Once again, we wish to remind all our supporters that any ticket purchased is for the sole use of the individual that purchases it from the club. Transferring or selling tickets on unofficially breaches our terms and conditions and is against the law."

UEFA are yet to respond after being contacted by football.london earlier this week.

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