The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has upheld its stance that season ticket scanners were fully functional during the Division 1 Round 6 game between Kerry and Mayo last week.
This assertion comes after many supporters contacted Radio Kerry to highlight the issue and claim that their attendance at Austin Stack Park had not been recorded despite their ticket having been scanned.
As per GAA rules, fans must attend more than 60 per cent of league and championship games in order to qualify for a guaranteed chance to buy an All-Ireland final ticket.
One supporter told Radio Kerry his season ticket account didn’t reflect his attendance at the game, despite having it scanned upon entry, the Irish Examiner reports.
Another Kerry follower, Karen McAuliffe, claimed that the scan of her eight-year-old son’s season ticket did not confirm he was at the game. The GAA informed her that as a result of that it would not be included in his attendance record.
“Hardly gonna go to match and let an 8yr old at home (sic),” she posted on Twitter. She highlighted that both she and her son entered the grounds via the same gate but only her season ticket registered her as being at the game afterwards.
The GAA’s statement to the Irish Examiner read: “The terms and conditions of the GAA season ticket state: ‘Only two means of attendance verification will be used in relation to the GAA season ticket, namely the scanners and/or the season ticket holder lists that can manually record attendance at a venue’.
“The manual lists would only be used in exceptional circumstances such as a supporter arriving to the ground having lost their season ticket card.
“There are over 24,000 season ticket holders and so it is not remotely feasible to use social media or photographs to verify attendance at a fixture. This is why we have scanners in operation and why we are as thorough as possible prior to fixtures. This includes, but is not limited to, the correct set up, testing and charging of all scanners, the presence of season ticket holder lists at the designated turnstiles, the briefing of all scanning personnel before stiles open and, in some cases, the presence of a GAA ticket office staff member also.”
The only recourse for supporters who have such issues is via email.
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