The largest jackpot in EuroMillions history, worth €243 million, was claimed by a single winner in Austria following the draw on March 28th. However, a week later, the lucky winner was still unable to collect their prize due to a technical glitch.
The issue stemmed from the overwhelming number of tickets sold across Europe for the historic draw. On the day of the draw, 66 million tickets were purchased, which caused the Française des Jeux (FDJ) system, responsible for France’s national lottery, to collapse. The high volume of sales led to delays, issues with ticket validation, and problems with prize collection.
As a result, the National Lottery organizers urged participants not to discard their tickets until the issues were resolved. According to French newspaper Le Figaro, the official prize details were also delayed, and corrections had to be made after the initial announcements.
In Spain, the results, including the winning numbers and tickets, are typically known within an hour of the draw. However, due to the technical difficulties, only the winning numbers were released, and the prize breakdown was delayed until the early morning. Additionally, the jackpot amount was initially reported as €243 million but was later corrected to €250 million. In some countries, including Spain, it wasn’t even initially reported that there was a winner in Austria due to the system failure.
Despite the excitement surrounding the massive prize, the winner has yet to claim their prize as the chaos continues.
