The dispute over the number of Irish supporters who will miss out on tickets for the upcoming game against Scotland has taken a step forward this evening with the FAI releasing a statement about the matter. Much of the blame had been placed at the feet of the FAI by regular travelling supporters, however, in a statement released on Wednesday evening, the Association have placed the blame firmly at the door of their Scottish counterparts.
Ireland received a paltry 5% ticket allocation for the game which is estimated to be just 25% of the amount needed to the fulfil demand of the travelling support. And although the FAI have been blamed for not having the foresight to prevent this problem, the Association are instead highlighting the deficiencies in how the SFA have handled the matter.
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.
Earlier in the week a statement from the 'You Boys In Green' supporters club outlined the grievances of many fans who are planning on travelling to Glasgow for the game on September 14th.
The decision not to release ticketing results until three weeks to go before the game must also be seriously questioned. Whilst we understand that the FAI were working to obtain the maximum allocation, they were guaranteed 5% of the stadium. These tickets should have been allocated in good time.
Given the good start that the team has enjoyed in Euro2016 qualifying, it is clear that without a fundamental and radical overhaul, this situation will continue to occur each time games are oversubscribed. Whilst hundreds of Ireland's most travelled fans will be left without tickets for this game, the underlying issue is the complete failure of the systems currently in place at the FAI. This must be urgently addressed going forward.
Whether this latest statement serves to address those grievances remains to be seen. Here it is in full:
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.
