Scottish football chiefs were left furious after the Government booted out a request to let just 2000 fans attend next weekend’s Scottish Cup Final.
Record Sport revealed this week the SFA would apply to Holyrood for permission to open the turnstiles after convincing UEFA to let the game go ahead with spectators in the ground. Plans were then urgently submitted that would have allowed up to 1,000 fans from both Hibs and St Johnstone to watch the teams battle it out for the last silverware of the season.
But, despite national clinical director Jason Leitch hinting in a series of interviews that any proposal would be looked upon favourably by politicians and public health advisers, the government has given the green light for only 50 extra tickets to be given to the competing clubs over and above the permitted number of 500.
It comes on the day UEFA confirmed Manchester City and Chelsea will be given 6000 tickets EACH for the Champions League final in Portugal on May 29.
That Hampden decision has infuriated the Scottish game’s authorities who have felt for some time that the football industry in this country has been badly let down throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
And a source close to the talks told us: “What the government has done here is a slap in the face to Scottish football in general and to fans of Hibs and St Johnstone in particular.
“The SFA was criticised when the Daily Record first revealed that plans had been put in place for just 2,000 to attend. But now everyone can see why there was such caution around that request.
“A crowd of 2,000 would have been perfectly reasonable and completely manageable in a stadium with capacity for more than 50,000.
“Jason Leitch himself had said only the other week that 10,000 might be a bit of a stretch so there was no point in trying to push too hard for too many tickets to be available.
“But for them to come back with an extra 100 fans and a total gate of 600? It’s no wonder that tempers are boiling over on Hampden’s sixth floor.”
Last week Prof Leitch appeared to hint that the door would be open to a decent increase in numbers for the May 22 showdown.
While admitting a gate of 10,000 would be a ‘stretch’ Leitch did say: “Without asking you can have 500 but WITH asking you can have a different number as long as it’s safe to do so.
“You’re allowed 500 and I don’t need to even answer the phone. If you want more than 500 you’re going to have to come with a plan of transportation, parking, policing, Covid officers, hand washing etc.”
It comes on the day UEFA confirmed Manchester City and Chelsea will be given 6000 tickets each for the the Champions League final in Portugal on May 29.
St Johnstone, meanwhile, are hopeful a recent spate of covid-related issues will not put their participation at risk.
Record Sport understands there were genuine fears that the Perth outfit might have been ordered not to play Wednesday night’s top flight match against Celtic after another positive test was recorded on Monday - with a total of eight players missing the trip to Glasgow.
But Callum Davidson was given the go ahead to travel south for the 4-0 defeat and the boss received better news yesterday when no further positive tests were recorded from the latest batch of testing.
