Cruel irony as Irish fan used in advertisements for Euro 2016 tickets misses out

Like many Irish football fans hoping to head to the European Championships, we received one of these emails over the weekend.

Shite. Disappointing, but at least our faces weren’t used as part of a massive advertising campaign for this summer’s action, and did not even get one stub for their image being used without permission. Northern Ireland fan Stuart Killen was pictured wearing a hat and scarf, looking only delighted with himself as Michael O’Neill’s side secured their place at Euro 2016. ‘ The picture was so good that UEFA used it in various ads urging supporters to apply for tickets for the tournament in France. Sadly however, Stuart was among thousands of unlucky Irish fans, north and south, who missed out on tickets. He told the Belfast Telegraph that he was among a number of ‘Norn Iron’ fans who were seemingly failed by the ‘loyalty scheme' that they hoped would see the most dedicated fans north of the border secure tickets for June’s games. And he is especially unhappy with the fact that his image was used without his permission, and without even a thank you from UEFA. He said he definitely won’t be allowing any further use of his beaming face.

"No, highly unlikely after this fiasco. Neither the IFA or UEFA had permission to use my photo so I had no idea about appearing on their adverts until I got my email from the IFA with my picture. "I'm chairman of the Ards GAWA Supporters Club. I had the most points from the whole club while some members had little to zero points and they received tickets for all three games. I'm delighted for our members who got them but bitterly disappointed at missing out myself."