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TICKET ROW 'REMAINS UNRESOLVED'
Pittodrie - ticket row.
Aberdeen have denied that they agreed to pay Rangers to sell away tickets for their upcoming Pittodrie meeting as the impasse over Old Firm demands for a 5% handling fee continues.
Reports on Sunday claimed the Dons had decided to pay the fee rather than risk security problems by selling the tickets through their own ticket office.
However, despite asking Rangers to sell their away allocation as normal, the club revealed the financial matter was yet to be resolved.
Celtic and Rangers have angered their Clydesdale Bank Premier League rivals by demanding financial compensation for selling tickets to their own fans for away matches.
Falkirk have sold tickets to Rangers fans themselves for Saturday's SPL opener and Hearts have pledged to follow suit.
However, Dundee United "reluctantly" accepted the imposition for fear of losing £100,000 from their August 17 clash with Celtic at Tannadice, after the Parkhead club said they would take no tickets if the home side did not pay.
And while Aberdeen have also allowed Rangers to sell tickets for their visit on August 23, no agreement has been made over the charge.
A statement on the club's website, www.afc.co.uk, read: "The matter is yet to be resolved and Aberdeen and Rangers have agreed to meet at a later date to discuss the issue of selling tickets."
Managing director Duncan Fraser added: "We have security and distribution arrangements that are unique to games against the Old Firm and since these were introduced, those matches have passed almost without incident and only minimal arrests.
"Consequently, our decision was for Rangers to continue to distribute the away tickets."
