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Soccer fans in Homyel snap up tickets for Liverpool game

Tickets for FC Homyel's UEFA Europa League clash against English giants Liverpool went on sale in the city in southeastern Belarus on July 28 amid a massive demand from local soccer fans.

Although tickets to the August 2 game sold at the unusually high price of 150,000 rubels ($18) to 400,000 rubels ($48) apiece, hundreds of people braved scorching sun and heat on Saturday morning to form huge lines outside ticket offices at the Tsentralny Stadium in Homyel.

FC Homyel earlier announced that only a tiny share of the tickets would be available through ticket offices. Most of the tickets were booked in advance by enterprises and organizations that will hand them out to their employees.

The club's stadium holds slightly more than 14,000 people.

FC Homyel, who finished third in the Belarusian league last season, earned the chance to face Liverpool after seeing off the Faroe Islands' Vikingur and Renova of the Republic of Macedonia in the first two rounds of the competition. //BelaPAN