Bajram Fetai wanted to buy tickets to København’s Champions League encounter against Real Madrid, but he was denied by the club because he had a non-Danish sounding name.

Striker Bajram Fetai, who played for the Macedonian national team as recently as this past June, was born in Tetovo but spent most of his childhood in Denmark.  He still lives there in the offseason and recently tried to buy tickets for the Champions League match between København and Real Madrid on 10 December.  Fetai said that the tickets were for a family member who has down syndrome.  However, København would not sell tickets to Fetai or any other person who the club describes as having a non-Danish sounding name.

Late last week, København announced that it would not sell tickets to non-Danish sounding names for its Champions League clashes against Real Madrid, Juventus and Galatasaray.  København said security reasons caused that decision.  You can read more about København’s reasoning and reactions to the move here.

Anyway, Fetai was caught off guard when he was initially refused tickets by København.  On 30 August, he wrote the following on his twitter feed to UEFA, “Dear Uefa. What do you think about a club not allowing a person with a none Danish name to buy a ticket for a CL game?”

Fetai was then tracked down by Danish newspaper “BT” where he said, “I’m amazed how they came to such a decision.  It can easily be associated with racism and discrimination.  It is arrogant to exclude fans because of their name, and I was a little shocked when I heard about it.”

København defended the move, saying they want fans of the visitors to only have access to the away section.  They encouraged people whose ticket purchases were denied to contact the club directly, and then København would decide whether the tickets would be approved based on the dialogue.