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Football fans left waiting for tickets for Ireland qualifier after ‘production delay'

Some Republic of Ireland fans have been left waiting for the delivery of tickets ahead of the side's first home World Cup qualifier on Thursday. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association
Some Republic of Ireland fans have been left waiting for the delivery of tickets ahead of the side's first home World Cup qualifier on Thursday. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association Some Republic of Ireland fans have been left waiting for the delivery of tickets ahead of the side's first home World Cup qualifier on Thursday. Picture by Niall Carson, Press Association

THE Football Association of Ireland has said season tickets for fans due to attend this week's World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Dublin have now been dispatched.

Despite having had money for the tickets, which cost between €130 and €220 for an individual adult entrance, deducted from their accounts, some Irish supporters have been left waiting to receive tickets.

The Republic will line out for their first home game of the qualification campaign at the Aviva Stadium on Thursday night, after opening the group with a 2-2 draw in Serbia in September.

It is unclear how many fans have been affected, but includes those who bought tickets a month ago.

The FAI tickets are sold in conjunction with Ticketmaster, but it is understood that those purchasing individual tickets for Thursday's game have not been left waiting.

The season tickets allow entrance to three World Cup qualifiers in Dublin against Georgia, Wales and Austria, two friendlies and the FAI Ford Cup Final in November.

One of the friendly games took place against Oman in August, when fans who had purchased season tickets less than four weeks prior to the match were asked to collect tickets from the ground on the day of the match.

A spokesman for the FAI said that a "production delay" outside of the association's control had affected the delivery of the final batch of tickets.

He said: "There was a production delay, which was out of our control, with the final batch.

"The tickets have now all been dispatched, since Thursday and Friday, and we emailed all the supporters affected with an update on the status of their order."