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Ireland will play two of their three Group C games in Poznan. UEFA.com
Road to Poland

UEFA optimistic about the availability of Euro 2012 tickets

A spokesperson for the European football governing body was in Dublin yesterday to launch a new premium package.

UEFA OFFICIALS ARE predicting that tickets for the Euro 2012 finals could be available to buy right up to the start of the tournament.

Demand from Irish fans has been enormous as thousands of the Green Army are expected to descend on Poland in less than three months’ time.

The FAI’s allocation of approximately 7,000 tickets for each of the Group C matches with Croatia, Spain and Italy, have been snapped up already with many hopefuls looking to other routes such as designated travel agents and the UEFA ticketing portal.

Its resale portal redistributes tickets which have been returned in a bid to do away with touting and at a media briefing in Dublin today, UEFA commercial manager Magdelena Mazany-Krasonodebska said that while it is likely to be easier to buy tickets for games held in Ukraine, there will be activity on the website up until June.

We are expecting movement on the portal right up to the tournament,” Mazany-Krasonodebska said.

The Italians have not taken up their full allocation meaning around 2,000 tickets have gone back to UEFA for the match with Ireland in Poznan on June 18.

Mazany-Krasonodebska was in the capital to launch UEFA’s Club Prestige, which offers Irish businesses the chance to book hospitality packages that include tickets and seats in a corporate ‘sky box’ or business lounges with live entertainment and gourmet catering during a seven-hour match-day experience.

The ‘platinum’ deal will set you back €2,250 while a less formal ‘gold’ standard is going for €1,450.

Of the 1,000 Club Prestige tickets for each of Ireland’s games, 30% have already been bought by Irish fans and Mazany-Krasonodebska revealed that there were 250 remaining.

A total of 1.4 million tickets were made available for June’s European championships with 85% of that figure going to fans of the 16 participating nations.

Although UEFA has a legal team who are currently working to clamp down on tickets being sold illegally and, often for over the odds, she admits a small percentage will be for sale on the black market in the run-up to and during the competition.

Just last week, FAI chief executive John Delaney claimed that there could be up to 20,000 supporters cheering on Giovanni Trapattoni’s side for each of the matches.

While Mazany-Krasonodebska couldn’t confirm that number, she did add there has been substantially more interest coming from Ireland than from our Spanish counterparts.

Magdelena Mazany-Krasonodebska, UEFA Commercial manager, at today’s media briefing. Credit: INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan

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