Claims Rangers fans bought cup final tickets for Aberdeen end probed

Several Rangers fans claimed on social media that they were able to buy tickets for the Aberdeen end.

Claims Rangers fans purchased cup final tickets for Aberdeen end investigatedSNS Group

Aberdeen are investigating claims made on social media that Rangers fans have purchased League Cup Final tickets for their end at Hampden.

The Pittodrie club say they are carrying out customer checks after selling 17,000 tickets just hours after they were released on general sale.

Several posts on Twitter claimed fans of the Ibrox side had been able to buy tickets for the end intended for Aberdeen fans.

The sides meet at the national stadium on December 17 with the Viaplay Cup trophy on the line.

Dons bosses were dismayed at only being handed just over 19,000 tickets for the game while Rangers were allocated 25,000.

Aberdeen released the majority of their briefs on sale at the start of the week, with season ticket holders and those with more than 200 loyalty points with the club given a short window to snap them up before the rest were put out on general sale.

The club announced on Wednesday that all 17,000 had been sold, leading to claims that some had got into the wrong hands.

Aberdeen said in a statement: “We understand the frustrations of our fans and we want to reassure them that during the course of our work today we will be ensuring all those who have purchased a ticket for the cup final meet our usual stringent rules.”

Supporters unable to get one have been urged to join a waiting list for the remaining 2,500, which will be issued based on priority points.

The Pittodrie ticket office was closed on Thursday as they looked to work through cup final purchases and requests.

Chief executive Allan Burrows has apologised to fans for how the sale was handled and insisted “lessons have been learned” as he reiterated the club’s disappointment that they were unable to secure a 50/50 split.

He said: “I understand that from the tweets and replies, we’ve a lot of frustrated Dandies posting about ViaPlay Cup Final tickets.

“We have, at the moment, sold out our initial allocation. We have been given up to 19,500 tickets – the first lot of circa 17,000 have gone almost immediately.

“The ticket office set a threshold at 200 points to buy one ticket each then, this afternoon at 5pm, the remainder went on full general sale.

“Although it was for for the right reasons, in hindsight, this was an error on our part. We should’ve had a second sales period for lesser points before – I.e. 100-199, before full general sale, ensuring there was more control.

“That’s a lesson we’ll learn. I take responsibility for that and I am very sorry to those who are currently feeling frustrated.

“The good news is that we are still expecting another approx 2,500 tickets and we will ensure, when we get them, that priority is given to season ticket holders/higher point holders.

“If you have so far missed out on tickets and want to go – please email Ticketoffice@afc.co.uk and the team there will look to sort you out as soon as we receive the additional batch through (we’re putting pressure on SPFL to have these to us asap).

“This does bring into sharp focus our plea to have been given the opportunity to sell out Hampden on a 50/50 split.

“Given we’ve sold 17,000 tickets in just a few short days, I think it’s fair to say there is a high probability we could’ve sold out a 50% share had we been given the chance.”

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