UEFA has released extra Euro 2016 tickets to Northern Ireland fans after a furore over the original allocation process.

Some fans were left fuming this week after a loyalty scheme apparently failed to prioritise those who had attended past games.

The Irish Football Association (IFA) had devised a points system with the aim of ensuring Northern Ireland fans who had attended the most qualifying and friendly matches got first preference when it came to tickets for this summer’s tournament in France.

But fans who had amassed numerous loyalty points were scratching their heads after they missed out on tickets, while others with little or no points secured them.

The problem focused on N. Ireland’s opening game against Poland in Nice on June 12 – the match with the smallest ticket allocation (6,800).

There was a real sense of injustice among fans who felt years of loyal support had not been rewarded

The issue seemed to relate to the price category of tickets fans applied for.

Those with limited or no loyalty points appeared to have been able to secure seats in the more expensive areas of the stadium, while supporters with many loyalty points who applied for tickets in the more in-demand cheaper seat categories missed out.

With 50,000 applications for just under 30,000 total seats for Northern Ireland’s three group games, there were always going to be many disappointed fans.

But there was a real sense of injustice among many fans who felt years of loyal support had not been rewarded.

The IFA held talks with UEFA throughout Tuesday and, as a consequence, European football’s governing body yesterday released extra tickets for those top-ranking loyalty scheme members who missed out.

A UEFA spokesman said: “UEFA are now in a position to make available extra tickets to ensure that those Northern Ireland fans at the top of the Irish FA’s priority list will be able to attend the match.”