The sale of tickets for Scotland’s Euro 2024 group games has been halted after confusion in the Hampden Park corridors of power saw access codes sent to supporters who are not yet permitted to buy them.
It makes you wonder if any high profile, richly rewarded organisation can get anything right.
There is a huge demand from fans who want to see the national team in action at next summer’s finals, with Steve Clarke’s side facing hosts Germany in the opening match before facing Switzerland and Hungary in the other Group A games.
The celebrations over qualifying over Euro 2024 will be swiftly turning to widespread dismay amongst the so-called Tartan Army.
Only 10,000 tickets are being allocated to each nation per game, prompting the Scottish FA to put in place a system to reward the most loyal of the Tartan Army.
Points are given to Scotland Supporters’ Club member for attending games, and the fans with the most points were to get priority access to the hard-to-get tickets, but a problem has seen the sale paused at the last minute.
Fans who had accumulated 12 points or more were to be sent access codes on Wednesday morning that would allow them to buy tickets for each game directly when UEFA’s purchasing platform opened at noon. Those with fewer points would then be offered an opportunity to buy remaining tickets at later dates.
However, supporters who had 11 loyalty points appear to have been sent access codes in error, prompting the Scottish FA to hastily cancel the sale, saying that they will contact Supporters Club members when the issue has been resolved.
A message to fans read: “Due to a technical error, UEFA Euro 2024 codes have been sent out to Scotland Supporters Club members who are not eligible to buy tickets at this stage.
“As a result of this error, the sale scheduled for 12 noon will be delayed until further notice while we liaise with UEFA to resolve the issue.
“The Scottish FA would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to supporters at this time.
“We will communicate further information on the sales schedule as soon as it is available.”
The national team will begin their campaign against the hosts in the opening game at Munich’s Allianz Arena on June 14.