Delaney says SFA response to ticket row 'a joke'

FAI chief executive John Delaney has labelled last night's Scottish FA statement "a joke" after they said they had done little wrong in terms of ticket allocation for next month's Euro 2016 qualifier in Glasgow.

Ireland have been given 5% of tickets - 3,209 seats - for the game at Celtic Park, with almost four times that number seeking tickets.

Of the tickets allocated to date, 1,700 have gone to supporters' clubs, season ticket holders, Club Ireland members and known away supporters. A further 700 went to clubs and leagues and another 600 to sponsors and contracted travel partners.

The remaining 200 were set aside for players, backroom team, FAI staff and team management.

Delaney, speaking on Today FM this morning, admitted to errors by the FAI in the distribution of the tickets for the 14 November fixture and promised a liaison officer will be appointed to deal with future issues arising over away tickets.

The Scottish Football Association statement issued in the aftermath of the FAI's comment yesterday said they felt they had done little wrong in the matter.

It read: "The match is now approaching a sell-out and we are releasing the last remaining restricted view seats via public sale to home fans.

"Given the demand for tickets from Scotland supporters, and the need to comply with UEFA's safety and security regulations, we will be unable to increase the Republic of Ireland's away allocation.

"We will have the appropriate measures in place to ensure that both sets of fans - renowned and revered around the world for their impeccable behaviour - enjoy what will be a hugely entertaining qualifying match, played before a full house at Celtic Park."

But Delaney hit back this morning, suggesting there could be potential security issues, with Irish fans now scattered around the stadium having purchased them on the SFA website.

"That's a joke," Delaney said on the SFA statement.

"They have admitted to us that they have sold tickets to Irish fans in the Scottish area. Even yesterday, they had promised us 3,200 tickets. They tried to take 75 of these away to try and increase the buffer zones.

"We had a battle with them yesterday to get 56 of those back.

"If they were sold out from Scottish fans, I'd accept that. But when they are not sold out and Irish fans are buying tickets in the Scottish area, I don't accept that. I don't think it was good manners by them to be honest with you."

He also expressed concern that the SFA had yet to deliver to the tickets to Abbotstown.

"We still haven't got the tickets yet. They physically haven't landed yet and the game is just a couple of weeks away."

Delaney explained that the delegation of tickets to supporters clubs meant that some fans that have travelled to many away matches missed out on tickets.

He admitted: "There certainly were mistakes made by us. Certain hardcore and loyal fans did not get tickets. I became aware and emails started to flood into me personally.

"We went out and bought 150 tickets personally at £125 sterling and we're selling them to those fans at £45 sterling, to try to rectify an error that was made.

"What we are going to do after this game is appoint a liaison officer who will deal directly with the away fans that do not want to join supporters groups.

"That will rectify it in the main going forward, but you will never get it right if you don't have enough tickets. You can't get it right.

"[Loyal support] should be rewarded and if there is a lesson for us, I accept that there are certain mistakes from our side.

"One of the guys inside in the FAI said to me the other day 'I took my eye off the ball' in certain cases and I have to accept that mistakes are made. What I tried to do in the Association was to rectify the situation over the weekend by buying corporate tickets at £125 and selling them back for £45."

Delaney said that he will be receptive to Scotland's requests for the Aviva Stadium clash next year in a bid to avoid Tartan Army fans entering the home sections in Dublin.

"I think we'll be more professional in our dealings with them. We'll see what their allocation applications are.

"I don't think there is any point in us reducing their allocation and having more Scots in the Irish section. We'll give them what is fair and deal with it in a neighbourly fashion and not in a manner in how they have dealt with us."

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