John Delaney may just have come to the rescue again.
The next few weeks will be anxious one for hundreds of thousands of Irish football fans hoping to get some tickets to this summer’s European Championships.
After last week’s scare over debit cards, it’s all systems go for the hordes of Irish supporters hoping to make France turn a shade of greeny-blue next June.
275,000 Irish people have applied for tickets for the tournament, and the allocation of tickets for Irish fans looked paltry at best up until today
June 13 v Sweden – 13,000 tickets out of 81,338 at the Stade de France.
June 18 v Belgium – 6,000 tickets out of 42,115 in Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
June 22 v Italy – 7,000 tickets out of 50,186 in Stade Pierre-Mauroy (Lille).
But some good news is emerging tonight that should please anyone who’s hoping to bring giant inflatable hammers to the streets of Paris this summer.
The FAI has confirmed this evening that it has received an extra allocation of tickets, 6502 to be exact, that has boosted our hopes of getting some important stubs for the group games against Belgium, Italy and Sweden.
Republic of Ireland v Sweden – 16,087 (13,000 + 3,087)
Belgium v Republic of Ireland – 7,095 (6,000 + 1,095)
Italy v Republic of Ireland – 9,320 (7,000 + 2,320)
The stament quotes FAI CEO John Delaney’s delight at the extra allocation.
“I am very happy to say that following meetings with Nyon, Switzerland last Friday UEFA have awarded Republic of Ireland fans with 6,502 more tickets.
“These tickets will go some way to satisfying the huge demand for Ireland matches at EURO 2016.”
