Como President Gives Up Champions League Seat to Fans Who Waited a Lifetime

For most club presidents, a Champions League debut would be the night to secure the best seat in the stadium.

For Como 1907 president Mirwan Suwarso, it will be different.

With the Italian club preparing for the biggest European night in its history, Suwarso and several members of the club's hierarchy have decided to give up their own places in the stands so that some of Como's oldest supporters can witness the historic occasion.

The seats will be offered to long-standing Como fans born in 1950 or earlier — supporters who have followed the club through its various divisions and difficult periods long before the current era of Champions League football.

The gesture comes ahead of Como's historic home meeting with RB Leipzig on Thursday, September 10, when the club will make its Champions League debut at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.

Suwarso puts lifelong supporters first

The demand for tickets has created a difficult situation.

Sinigaglia is sold out, while UEFA restrictions mean Como cannot use the stadium's full domestic capacity for European competition. Reports put the permitted Champions League capacity at approximately 10,884 to 11,000 spectators, compared with more than 12,000 for domestic fixtures. 

That has inevitably left some supporters without the opportunity to attend what could be the most significant match in the club's history.

Rather than simply accepting that situation, Suwarso announced that he and other club directors would surrender their own seats.

The idea is to ensure that the supporters who have waited the longest get an opportunity to experience the moment.

In his message to supporters, Suwarso specifically called for fans born in 1950 or earlier who had followed Como through every era of the club.

That makes the initiative about much more than filling a few seats.

It is an acknowledgement of the people who remained connected to Como when nights against European opposition seemed almost unimaginable.

From football's lower levels to the Champions League

The significance of the gesture becomes even clearer when Como's recent history is considered.

The club's journey to Europe's elite has been anything but straightforward.

Como have experienced dramatic highs and lows, including periods outside Italy's top divisions, before eventually returning to Serie A and now reaching the Champions League.

For supporters who watched the club during its most difficult years, Thursday's fixture represents the culmination of decades of loyalty.

That is why the decision to prioritise older supporters carries such symbolic weight.

The people receiving those seats are not simply spectators being given access to a major match.

They represent generations of Como supporters who continued following the club through different leagues, different teams and different eras.

Sinigaglia ready for a night Como fans dreamed of

The stadium itself has undergone significant work to satisfy UEFA's requirements.

The Curva Ovest was rebuilt, the pitch was relaid and widened, while improvements were also made to lighting, media areas and other stadium facilities. UEFA subsequently approved the ground for European football.

Yet the upgrades have also contributed to the reduced European capacity.

The result is an unusually intimate setting for a Champions League match — but one that is already completely sold out.

For Como, that atmosphere could become one of the defining features of their European debut.

The club will face RB Leipzig, a side with considerably more recent Champions League experience, but Como will have something their opponents cannot manufacture: the emotion of a city watching its team reach a level many supporters once could not have imagined.

A Champions League debut that belongs to the supporters

There will inevitably be executives, celebrities and VIP guests inside Sinigaglia on Thursday.

But thanks to Suwarso's decision, some of the most important people in the stadium will be those who have been supporting Como for decades.

It is a particularly fitting gesture for a club experiencing such a dramatic transformation.

Como's ambitions are increasingly international, but the club's European adventure is being built on a foundation created by generations of local supporters.

Suwarso's decision sends a simple message: the Champions League belongs to the people who stayed with Como long before the club reached it.

For a president who could have enjoyed the occasion from his own VIP seat, giving it away may ultimately prove to be one of the most memorable moments of Como's historic European debut.

And when the Champions League anthem rings around Sinigaglia on Thursday night, some of the oldest voices in the stadium will finally get to hear it live.

Fan Debate

🔥 Fire: Suwarso has shown that Como's supporters remain at the heart of the club.

❤️ Like: Giving the seats to fans who have followed Como for decades is a class gesture.

😱 Shock: Some supporters born before 1950 could be watching Como's first Champions League match from seats originally reserved for the club's hierarchy.

⚽ Goal: The perfect way to celebrate a historic European debut.

💬 Comment: Would you give up your VIP seat for a lifelong supporter if it meant they could witness their club's biggest night?