‘They are terrified’: Como spark row with fans over controversial new stadium policy
The Serie A club Como, who reached the Champions League for the first time last season, have provoked a backlash from supporters after introducing new stadium rules that include revoking season tickets from fans who miss more than three home matches without a valid reason. The club, coached by former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas, says the policy aims to ensure tickets go to genuine, committed supporters given demand far exceeds supply, but fans argue work, health or family commitments can prevent attendance without reflecting a lack of loyalty.
Chairman Mirwan Suwarso defended the rules in an Instagram statement, saying he wanted the Giuseppe Sinigaglia stadium to become "a fortress" for the team and a family-friendly environment free of disrespect. A separate new rule bans wearing rival teams' shirts or scarves outside the away section, introduced for safety reasons. Local paper La Provincia reported receiving dozens of worried calls and emails from fans, while Italian fans questioned the policy on social media; the row comes after a remarkable rise for Como, who were in Serie D as recently as 2018-19 following two bankruptcies, before finishing fourth in Serie A last season.
- Como to revoke season tickets from fans missing three home games
- Club also bans wearing rival shirts outside away section
- Fans call rules harsh; chairman cites ticket demand and safety
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Como is a football club based in the northern Italian city of Como. After two bankruptcies and a spell in Italy’s fourth tier in 2018–19, the club climbed back up the leagues and finished fourth in Serie A last season, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.
The club is coached by former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas and chaired by Mirwan Suwarso. With demand for matches at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia stadium greater than the number of seats available, the club says its attendance rules are intended to reserve tickets for committed supporters and create a family-friendly atmosphere.
The dispute reflects different views of what regular attendance means: some fans say work, health or family duties can keep them away without diminishing their support. Rules about attendance and rival teams’ colours also matter because they affect who can use match tickets and what supporters may wear at the ground.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The club faces genuine scarcity with demand far exceeding available tickets, and ensuring season tickets go to reliably committed supporters allows them to build the intense, unified atmosphere necessary to compete at the highest level, particularly in European competition. A season ticket fundamentally represents a commitment to regular attendance, and reallocating them from those who consistently miss matches to genuinely engaged supporters is a fair stewardship of scarce resources, especially given Como's remarkable rise from bankruptcy and lower divisions.
The case against
Work pressures, health crises, family emergencies and other genuine life circumstances can prevent attendance despite sincere loyalty and long-term support for the club. The policy appears to lack nuance in distinguishing between casual disengagement and unavoidable absences, and risks punishing exactly the supporters who remained committed through bankruptcy and years in lower divisions by revoking tickets based on circumstances often beyond their control rather than reflecting lack of loyalty.