A lot of Irish fans were left feeling disappointed and angered by the way the FAI allocated tickets for next month's trip to Parkhead for the crucial Euro 2016 qualifier between Ireland and Scotland.
Tonight the FAI released this statement in relation to the allocating of tickets;
The FAI received a minimum 5% ticket allocation from the SFA for the away match in Scotland equating to 3,209 tickets. Demand for these tickets is four times higher than the number available.
The Association regrets that the SFA has not increased this allocation to date. It is particularly disappointing that the Scottish FA is continuing to sell tickets on its website after they had told us that the match was sold out. Many of these tickets are now being taken up by Irish supporters out of desperation, a situation that could be resolved easily by providing adequate numbers of away tickets in a designated Irish section of the stadium.
Of the tickets confirmed to date, 1,700 went to supporters’ clubs, Season Ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters. 700 went to clubs and leagues. The fulfilment of contractual obligations also meant that there were fewer tickets available to the Association to distribute directly for this match - 481 went to Abbey Travel for supporters’ travel packages as per contract (15% of allocation) as official travel partner of the Association, and 128 went to sponsors. The remaining 200 tickets are divided between players, backroom team, FAI staff and team management.
Although many tickets were provided for known away supporters, the Association recognises that there are supporters who expected tickets and did not receive them. So far, the Association has secured an additional 150 tickets from companies in Scotland for corporate €160 seats that will be given to supporters who missed out at the general admission price of €60. The FAI regrets any situation in which supporters remain without tickets.
We continue to call on the SFA to provide adequate numbers of seats for Irish supporters, and in the meantime will strive to find remedies for ticketless supporters where possible.
