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.
Dates and kick-off times have been confirmed for your @scottishgas Men's Scottish Cup Semi-Finals.
🆚 @AberdeenFC v @CelticFC📅 Saturday, 20 April – 12.30pm📺 @BBCOne Scotland & @ViaplaySportsUK
🆚 @RangersFC v @JamTarts📅 Sunday, 21 April – 3pm📺 @ViaplaySportsUK
— Scottish Gas Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) March 14, 2024
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.
🏆 We will face Rangers in the @ScottishCup semi-final on Sunday, April 21st at 3pm.
📺 Live on Viaplay🏟 Both teams have initial 21k allocation🎟 Tickets from £30/£15
ℹ️⬇️
— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) March 14, 2024
“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.