Hansa Rostock are hoping their German second-division match against Dynamo Dresden will be a sell-out Sunday even though they have been ordered to play behind closed doors. Rostock, who are bottom of the table with one win from their 18 matches, were punished by the German FA (DFB) after crowd trouble marred their 3-1 defeat to St Pauli last month when eight police officers were injured.
As a result fans were banned from Sunday's game but they are still buying "virtual" tickets to limit the financial loss to the club which had been expected to run into hundreds of thousands of euros.
"Up to this point we have sold 3,224 virtual tickets and the number is rising every moment," a Rostock official told Reuters Friday.
She said in addition to the virtual tickets sold, thousands more season ticket holders and others who had bought their tickets for the game before the ban had refused to take a refund.
The stadium was to have a capacity of 24,000 for this game, down from 29,000 due to security restrictions in the clash of the East German clubs.
Every virtual fan will get a limited-edition sticker for the game while specially-made T-shirts are also on sale. Ticket prices range from five euros to 19.65 euros.
"We are delighted with the readiness of our loyal fans to stand by the club at this difficult moment," club boss Bernd Hofmann said in a statement. "We also thank them for all their ideas and proposals to back us financially."
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