The Irish skill for getting their hands on bundles of tickets at away grounds has ticked off Munster’s victims Harlequins no end.
The travelling Munster army had a great time at The Stoop on Sunday as they watched their side batter the Aviva Premiership champions and dump them out of the Heineken Cup.
But the numbers of Munster fans in the crowd has dismayed the English club. They released a statement today condemning just how many tickets fell into Irish hands.
“At no stage did tickets for the match go on sale to the general public, instead Harlequins season ticket holders and members were given priority access to the 8,520 tickets that were available for them. All of these tickets were rapidly taken up within the restricted times they were on sale.
Under the participation rules of the Heineken Cup, 25 per cent of the tickets available in all categories (3,750) had to be allocated to the opposition. Munster sold all of this allocation to its supporters.
Further tickets (750) were allocated as required by the tournament rules to the organisers, ERC and its sponsors (Heineken, Amlin, EDF, FedEx and Adidas). In addition, a number were used for Harlequins’ sponsors, corporate guests, community clubs, players, staff and official charities. The few tickets that were returned were sold to the club’s season ticket holders.
In the two weeks leading up to the match, the club was aware that tickets were being sold on Ebay and through other unauthorised channels, where possible it tried to identify the source of the tickets, the tickets involved and cancel them.
Last Sunday it was obvious from 90 minutes before kick-off that Munster’s well organised and wonderful supporters had a presence in the stadium that exceeded the number of tickets officially allocated to them. The colourful and vocal support they gave their talented team during the match provided further evidence of this if it was needed.
Given the controlled manner that tickets were made available for the match, it is clear to the club that many of its “supporters” sold their tickets on to opposition fans. To say that this is disappointing for the players, coaches, management and staff of the club is an understatement. The club is determined to identify any person that sold on his or her ticket and will ensure that last Sunday’s outcome is not repeated.”
Don’t worry about it lads, these things happen, especially with Irish fans…
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