The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has been slated by charity Age Scotland for its ticket prices for pensioners, pushing for discounts for the 2020 UEFA European Championship matches.
The charity has urged the governing body to changes its pricing, stating that charging over-65s full admission fees for games at Hampden Park in Glasgow was a “missed opportunity.”
Scotland is scheduled to play its first home Euro 2020 qualifying match on June 8 against Cyprus.
While the SFA provides juniors with ticket discounts, costing between £8 ($10.45/€9.13) and £10, it does not offer OAPs concessions.
Age Scotland’s chief executive Brian Sloan said, according to the Daily Record: “It’s extremely disappointing that the SFA has not added concession-priced tickets for older people, despite our previous suggestions of how it could fill its consistently empty seats while cultivating a loyal fan base of older Scots.
“This is a huge missed opportunity for older football fans, who may not otherwise be able to afford the regular prices with a reduced income post retirement.
“We encourage the SFA to re-evaluate its new pricing structure to be more inclusive of older people. This option, which could bring more fans to a stadium which is consistently three-fifths empty while tackling the public health crisis of loneliness, sounds like a smart and ethical business decision.”
According to Age Scotland, there are 200,000 older people in Scotland who go half a week not speaking to or seeing anyone.
In September, around 17,455 fans attended the Scotland game against Albania in the Nations League match at the 52,063-capacity stadium.
Image: Martin Le Roy
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