Tickets withheld from Scottish football fans

THE SCANDAL over the allocation of tickets for this month's Euro 2000 play-off between Scotland and England has deepened, amid revelations that only half the promised allocation was made available to the public north of the border.

The Scottish Football Association acknowledged yesterday that less than 8,000 tickets went on sale for the first leg at Hampden Park on 13 November, instead of the 15,000 promised.

A spokesman said the remainder were being held for youth clubs and a Hampden debenture scheme.

Within hours of the hotline being swamped, news came that many of the tickets which were available were snapped up by staff of Glasgow City Council, who used internal lines to bypass the main switchboard. The council said at least 250 council employees were involved in the scam. It is trying to retrieve the tickets.