Ireland fan group hits out at John Delaney over violence comment

Republic of Ireland supporters group You Boys In Green (YBIG) have again severely criticised FAI chief executive John Delaney, this time over his suggestion that the SFA's handling of ticketing for Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier in Celtic Park might

spark violence in the ground.

Speaking on Kerry Radio, Delaney raised the prospect of trouble between rival supporters inside the ground and then blamed the possibility of it on the host association, which, he said, had acted unprofessionally in giving Ireland only fractionally more than the five per cent of tickets to which the FAI was entitled, before selling to away supporters an unconfirmed number of tickets for other sections of the ground.

YBIG have been in the wars with Delaney since it became clear that those who most consistently travel to support Ireland had generally been overlooked by the FAI after the organisation had received its portion of tickets from its Scottish counterpart.

Deflect the anger

And it expressed disappointment at what its members clearly see as the chief executive’s latest attempt to deflect the anger of Ireland fans.

“YBIG believes that comments such as these are deeply unhelpful and do little more that stoke tension,” it said in a statement issued yesterday.

“Both sets of fans have impeccable records for behaviour and have received awards from federations and other bodies for the support of their national sides. We expect both sets of spectators to contribute to a superb atmosphere on Friday.

"Once again the chief executive has seen fit to blame the SFA for this saga, noting 'They only gave us five per cent of the allocation, telling us the game was sold out, when it's not. It means we're not able to award tickets to hardcore supporters that we would love to accommodate.'

“YBIG have clearly proved that the FAI system for allocating tickets spectacularly failed. Many of the hardcore supporters that the chief executive mentions will be sitting with the Scottish supporters as a result of the fact that the FAI have no clear and transparent system in place to allocate tickets. These supporters have acquired ‘home tickets’ for other games due to the same failures.”

The organisation again called for changes to the way tickets are distributed for games. The FAI declined to comment on the criticism last night.