The Scottish FA is pleased to confirm the schedule for the forthcoming William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden Park.

Having consulted with all potential participating clubs, broadcast partners and sponsors, as well as Police Scotland, we can confirm that Dundee United versus Hibernian or Inverness Caledonian Thistle will take place at Hampden Park on Saturday, 16th April with a 12.15pm kick-off.

Rangers versus Celtic will take place on Sunday, 17th April with a midday kick-off at Scotland's National Stadium.

The ticket pricing policy will be the same for both matches and we are in dialogue with participating clubs with a view to announcing those early next week.

We are aware of supporters’ challenges regarding travel and to that end collaborated with the clubs prior to confirmation of the match schedule.

Due to the broadcasting agreements with Sky Sports and BBC Scotland - which enables the association to distribute more than £6m per year of cup revenue to all participating clubs - agreement on kick-off times involved those rights holders, the clubs, the association and police authorities.
 
In order to ensure better understanding, we have also outlined this process to Supporters Direct Scotland, the fans' representative group on the Scottish FA Congress.

UEFA blocked hours regulations means no matches can be televised live between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on a Saturday. Both BBC Scotland and Sky Sports will broadcast Dundee United versus Hibernian or Inverness Caledonian Thistle live on Saturday 16th April at 12.15pm. A later kick-off time of 5.15pm was also discussed but was deemed prohibitive to return travel and also created scheduling clashes with broadcasters.
 
On the basis of Police Scotland advice, and Sky Sports' exclusive live broadcasting of one of the ties, the Rangers versus Celtic semi-final has therefore been scheduled for Sunday, 17th April at midday.

We have offered to assist all clubs in ensuring adequate transport provision to and from the national stadium for both ties. We look forward to Hampden Park staging an Unrivalled weekend of spectacular William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final action.