St Johnstone beat Hibernian in January in the Scottish League Cup semi-final

Scottish Cup final: Request made for up to 3,000 to attend Hibs v St Johnstone

The Scottish FA is seeking government approval for up to 3,000 fans to attend the Scottish Cup final between Hibernian and St Johnstone.

Uefa has given permission for a “limited number” of fans to attend the match at Hampden Park on 22 May.

It had seemed supporters would not be permitted for the game as the stadium comes under Uefa control from 14 May ahead of Euro 2020.

From Monday, 500 fans can attend outdoor events in Scotland.

Organisers can submit proposals for larger crowds and, with the Uefa waiver granted, the SFA has made a request to the Scottish government for between 1,500 and 3,000 spectators to attend.

It has been agreed that 12,000 fans will be in Hampden for Scotland’s Euro 2020 matches against Czech Republic and Croatia at Hampden in June.

The Scottish FA asked Uefa to reconsider its earlier stance of wanting the game behind closed doors after Europe’s governing body, the UK government and England’s FA met to discuss hosting the Champions League final at Wembley in front of fans.

That was raised as a possibility for Wembley even though, by the time of the Champions League final on 29 May, Uefa would have taken charge of that venue for Euro 2020 too.

"Uefa has been able to find a solution with the Scottish FA to allow a limited number of spectators for the Scottish Cup Final," said a spokesperson for the governing body.

Aberdeen also offered to host the showpiece occasion at Pittodrie, which has a capacity of just over 22,000 and hosted a test event in September where 300 fans attended the match with Kilmarnock.

Chairman Dave Cormack told BBC Scotland’s The Nine they would be happy to do so “if it was something that both teams and the Scottish FA wanted us to do”.

The Scottish FA said last month that no supporters would be inside the national stadium for the final.

It was claimed that the preparatory work for the Euros would prevent Hampden receiving a safety certificate from the local authorities.

Original article 11.05.21 on the BBC Sport website

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