The club believes 1,000 tickets were stolen

Chief executive Rick Parry said tickets originally earmarked for a ballot of members of its Fan Card scheme will now be given to fans affected by the theft.

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and the Football Association have refused to print duplicate tickets.

Mr Parry said the club believed 1,000 tickets rather than 1,600 were stolen.

"We still can't identify a precise figure, as tickets which should have been delivered on Monday at the latest, are for some reason, still being introduced into the Royal Mail system," said Mr Parry.

Ballot disappointment

"We were disappointed with our initial allocation and the bottom line now is that 1,000 fewer Liverpool fans will be able to watch their team in the FA Cup Final."

Mr Parry said ticket office staff will be contacting the fans affected and the club was confident the "vast majority" of supporters will get a ticket for the match.

"Obviously, those supporters who had applied for inclusion in the ballot will be disappointed, but we feel this is the best way to deal with a very difficult situation," he said.

The FA had said there was "no option" but to stand by initial safety advice against issuing duplicates by the stadium's Safety Advisory Group.

The tickets were taken from a Royal Mail van parked outside the club shop of Liverpool's rivals Everton.