Aberdeen have been left disappointed after being handed 19,000 tickets for their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final – less than the Hampden allocation Hearts have received.
Both clubs sought a 50-50 split for their respective matches but only Hearts had their request granted.
The Edinburgh club say they have been allocated an identical initial share to Rangers of 21,000 seats in the 50,000-capacity national stadium.
The Dons will face Celtic at 12.30pm on April 20 with Hearts facing 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.”
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 Scottish FA has been approached for comment.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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