Europa League finalists get less than half of tickets between them

ZURICH (Reuters) - Less than half the tickets for this season's Europa League final in Stockholm will to go the two teams taking part according to figures published by European soccer's governing body UEFA on Wednesday.

UEFA said in a statement that 48,000 tickets would be put on sale for the match at the Friends Arena on May 24, with up to 10,0000 going to each finalist. A further 17,000 will be sold to fans worldwide via UEFA's website.

The remaining 11,000 - just under one quarter of the total - will go to "the local organising committee, national associations, commercial partners and broadcasters, and to serve the corporate hospitality programme with competitive packages".

Prices range from 45 euros to 150 euros ($48 to $159), UEFA said.

UEFA was criticised when last season's final between Liverpool and Sevilla was staged at the St-Jakob Park in Basel with a capacity of 35,000.

On that occasion, around 9,000 tickets were allocated to each of the two finalists, a further 9,000 to the general public and the remaining 8,000 to officials, sponsors and corporate hospitality.

The competition is currently at the round of 16 stage with the second legs to be played on Thursday. Potential finalists include Manchester United, AS Roma, Olympique Lyon, Schalke 04, Ajax Amsterdam and Anderlecht.

($1 = 0.9402 euros)

(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond)