Aberdeen have reacted with disappointment over their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final ticket allocation after their offer to return any unsold tickets was declined.
The Dons have been allocated 19,000 tickets for their Hampden meeting with Celtic while Hearts will say they will receive an identical initial allocation of 21,000 to their opponents, Rangers.
Both of the last-four underdogs had sought a 50-50 split but the PA news agency understands Aberdeen declined the deal Hearts accepted, to underwrite the cost of any unsold tickets.
The Scottish Football Association announced that the Dons would face Celtic at 12.30pm on April 20 with Hearts playing Rangers at 3pm the following day.
A statement from Aberdeen read: “The club requested the opportunity to sell up to 50 per cent of the tickets, with any unsold tickets by an agreed date being allocated to our opponents.
“Disappointingly, this has once again been declined based primarily on historical ticket sales at this stage of the competition.
“As a result, the Aberdeen allocation for this match will be for up to 19,000 tickets, almost identical to the Viaplay Cup final in December, split between the South Stand and West Stand, depending on demand.”
Aberdeen quickly sold an initial 17,000 tickets for their Hampden clash with Rangers in December before problems emerged over a second batch of 2,500 tickets as fans complained over their loyalty points not being taken into account, while the club recalled tickets apparently sold to Light Blues fans.
They sold about 13,000 tickets for the League Cup semi-finals in each of the past two seasons, figures which were taken into account during this process.
Hearts were “delighted” to share their news with supporters.
A statement read: “The club put forward a proposal to secure an equal share of tickets, guaranteeing Hearts supporters the opportunity to purchase seats in Hampden’s North Stand.
“We had to make an extremely strong case for our argument, given the size of our opponents’ fanbase and historic semi-final ticket sales.
“We are, therefore, extremely pleased to confirm that our proposition was accepted, and both Hearts and Rangers will be given an initial 21k allocation of tickets to sell to our respective supporters.
“We would like to thank the Scottish FA for their assistance in this process.
“This gives us the best opportunity to have Steven Naismith and our players walk out onto the Hampden pitch to a sea of maroon, spread out equally and fairly across the national stadium.
“The door has now been opened for as many Hearts fans as possible to attend and, hopefully, have a special day out.
“One condition of this agreement is that the club covers the cost of any unsold tickets from our allocation so it is in all of our interests to sell out and give the team the level of backing that Hearts fans are famous for.”
Head coach Naismith welcomed the news.
“In the semi-final of the biggest cup competition in the country when you’ve got two of the biggest clubs in the country, it really should be (50/50),” he said. “It should be a great atmosphere to be involved in.”
The SFA declined to comment.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
Nuno encouraged by Forest's attitude and commitment, despite Man City defeat
Nuno Espirito Santo believes Nottingham Forest will "achieve what we want" by replicating the attitude demonstrated during their defeat by Manchester City.
Forest went down 2-0 against their title-chasing opponents at the City Ground, and remain just a point clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
Despite the defeat, the hosts produced a spirited performance against Pep Guardiola's side, while registering 14 shots on goal compared to 11 from the Citizens - meaning they had had more shots in both meetings this season.
Forest face already relegated Sheffield United, Chelsea and fellow strugglers Burnley in their final three games, and Nuno has seen enough to be confident of securing the Reds' Premier League status for another year.
"We played a good game, were compact, organised and had chances," he told Sky Sports. "We did a good job regarding how hard it is to play against Manchester City, and the players gave it a big go.
"We are disappointed with the result, but the encouragement comes from the way we work, how committed we are, and what we have ahead of us. This is more important.
"We stay positive, and we go for the next three games. With this attitude, we will achieve what we want."
Defender Moussa Niakhate echoes his manager's thoughts, adding: "We had three big chances in the first half, but we didn't score. That was the difference.
"Everybody is working hard. We can be proud. If we perform like this in the next three games, we'll stay up."
Dundee 1-2 Celtic: Forrest brace restores Hoops' three-point lead at SPL summit
James Forrest scored twice as Celtic regained their three-point cushion at the Scottish Premiership summit with a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee.
Rangers had applied the pressure earlier in the day with a 2-1 win at St Mirren, moving Philippe Clement's side level on points with the Hoops.
Although, Celtic did not twitch with Forrest volleying them ahead on the half-hour mark, before doubling their lead in the 67th minute.
Antonio Portales pulled a goal back for Dundee seven minutes later with his first league strike of the season, but the visitors held on to pull clear at the top once more with five games remaining.
Data debrief
Returning to the starting line-up today, Forrest's double separated the sides as he found the net more than once in a game for the first time since scoring a hat-trick against Hibernian in October 2022.
Celtic have now won their last 10 league matches against Dundee and are unbeaten in 43 meetings overall since a 2-0 defeat in May 2001, only enjoying a longer such streak against Dumbarton (50).
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