The 6,000 tickets for the Heineken Cup final in Dublin on Saturday, 24 May that went on public sale today (Friday, 10 January) were sold out within a matter of hours.

The marketing manager of Ticketmaster, John Maguire, described the buying frenzy as "amazing" and proclaimed the eighth Heineken Cup final to be "one of the fastest selling sporting events on record".

The ticketlines were opened at 9.00am and the "sold out" signs were put up within a matter of hours. No further tickets will go on general sale to the public as the remaining 42,000 tickets will be split between the two finalists and tournament organisers European Rugby Cup Limited's commercial partners. The two finalists will be guaranteed a minimum of 15,000 tickets each to sell to their fans.

"The unprecedented interest in tickets for this year's Heineken Cup final reflects the growth in stature of what has become one of Europe's major sporting events," said Derek McGrath, chief executive of ERC.

"The Heineken Cup Final is the major club rugby occasion of the European season and we are looking forward to a capacity 48,000 attendance at Lansdowne Road for the eighth final.

"We put the 6,000 tickets on sale at this early stage to make the final as accessible as possible to fans across Europe so they can experience the special atmosphere of an event that is encapsulated in our slogan 'NEW RUGBY. NEW RHYTHM.'"