Irish to get first shot at tickets for Europa final

“DUBLIN 2011 — The Final Adventure” is how UEFA are branding the Europa League final, which will take place at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday May 18, 2011.

And Irish football fans will get first shot at tickets for the big game, it was announced at the official event launch in the National Convention Centre yesterday.

Fans resident in the Republic will be able to buy tickets — ranging in price from €50 to €135 — from 11am on Thursday December 16 until Thursday January 13 via UEFA.com and www.fai.ie.

Between 6,000 and 7,000 tickets will be on sale here before the remainder of the tickets go sale from February 21. Irish fans will be able to apply for two tickets each and allocation will be decided by lottery. Supporters of the two clubs which will contest the final are expected to receive 12,500 tickets each.

In the run-up to the final, the FAI and Dublin City Council will hold a grassroots football tournament for U10s and U12s in Dublin and there will also be a tour of various locations in the city with the Europa League trophy. The official handover of the cup to Dublin is scheduled to take place in April.

The final is being billed as the biggest televised sport event ever hosted in Ireland, with a potential audience of some 40 million viewers.

Sports Minister Mary Hanafin said hosting the game in Ireland’s capital should have significant financial benefits for both the city and the country as a whole.

“To be able to showcase the stadium at a time when our international reputation is not good is wonderful for the city,” she said. “And because the match is on a Wednesday, we’ll be trying to entice people to come the weekend before and stay until the weekend after, which will be of great economic value to the city. And maybe they could travel outside as well. So there’s great potential in this from a tourism perspective, as well for sport.

“Any one match can have the potential for €30m to €50m in economic value. And if some of the English teams get into the final, you’d have thousands more travelling just to be in the city. And that could have a huge knock-on effect.”

Asked if she would still be Minister for Sport by the time the game takes place next May, she laughed and said: “Whether I am or not, I’ll definitely be at the match.”

FAI chief executive John Delaney also spoke of the economic benefits for the country but added: “You can’t put a price on the pride of having a final of this stature in Dublin.”

Yesterday’s launch was also attended by Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni and his assistant, Marco Tardelli, the final’s official ambassador.