Like hens’ teeth

BY the very nature of the events tickets for premium, national or international, sports events are too often beyond the reach of ordinary sports fans.

Already there is a furore about tickets for the London Olympics which will not begin until next July. Many British people already feel excluded from what is planned as a great national event.

Tickets for next month’s rugby World Cup final in New Zealand’s Eden Park are already as scarce as a modest Australian and if the hosts are involved, as the script decrees, they will be even more difficult to get.

The Irish version of this loaves-and-fishes scramble plays out every September when the All Ireland finals are played in Croke Park. On the very rare occasion that Dublin are involved this scramble becomes even more desperate.

Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of the GAA to devise some sort of loyalty scheme whereby fans with a proven attendance record can get preferential treatment when it comes to the allocation of this weekend’s most enviable tickets.