Number of cup final tickets cancelled amid fears of Rangers fans in Aberdeen end

A “small number” of tickets bought for the upcoming League Cup final have been cancelled over fears of Rangers fans in the Aberdeen end.

An investigation was launched after it was claimed that Gers fans were able to purchase briefs allocated to Dons supporters.

The sides meet in the final of the Viaplay cup at Hampden next month with 19,000 tickets made available for fans of the north east side.

However after Aberdeen sold 17,000 in a matter of hours, several Rangers fans took to social media to claim they had bought tickets in that area.

After “stringent” checks by the Pittodrie club they have now revealed that any suspicious purchases have been refunded with tickets set to go back on sale.

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 given a short window to snap them up before the rest were put out on general sale.

The investigation was launched on Wednesday with bosses keen to make sure the tickets were going to genuine fans of the club.

On Friday they released a statement saying: “As soon as we became aware of the issue, we worked quickly to rectify the problem with the ticketing team investigating all transactions purchased after 5pm on Tuesday.

“We have stringently checked all purchases made during this window to ensure they are compliant with our normal purchasing criteria, which includes a significant buying history.

“The small number of the ticket purchases, which did not meet these standard protocols, are being deactivated and refunded with immediate effect.

“Over and above that, we have been in dialogue with the SPFL and await the final number of additional tickets we get which will take us up to approximately 19,500 in total.

“When we receive these, the ticket office team will work to ensure all those who have registered for the waiting list, and meet the criteria, are given priority (based on Priority Points) to purchase both the small amount that will be relisted, and the approximate 2,500 South Stand Upper tickets to be provided.

“Once again, we sincerely apologise to our fantastic supporters who have backed the team in huge numbers this season.

“We are confident we have resolved any potential issues and look forward to seeing a colourful and noisy Red Army at Hampden.”