When will we learn to organise torunaments properly and treat the fans with respect. From Times newspaper
Angry cricket fans clash with police over ticket shortage
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Police have defended their actions as standard practice Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty
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The fans were upset after the India-England match was sold out Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty
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It is only the latest ticketing controversy at the World Cup Indranil Mukherjee
Patrick Kidd, Bangalore, Ben Smith
Last updated February 24 2011 8:45AM
There were scenes of violence and anger in Bangalore this morning as dozens of cricket fans were beaten with batons after frustrations boiled over in the rush for tickets to see India’s World Cup match with England on Sunday.
Police wielding 5ft bamboo canes struggled to control crowds of thousands as they swarmed outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Many fans had queued for more than 14 hours to secure their place at the match, but many were thrown out of line and beaten as chaos reigned over the ticketing.
Several people were taken to hospital on stretchers, although the security officers claimed that they had collapsed from the heat and tiredness. Rumours that three people had died were denied.
Some of the fans had queued since the previous evening in the hope of getting one of the 7,000 tickets that would be put on sale at 8.30am. Within two and a half hours the authorities said they were all gone. The shutters went down, and the uproar began.
Some reports claim that as few as 1,000 tickets were made available to those at the ground, although the local cricket council said that up to 6,000 went on sale.
Ratnakar Salunke, the stadium security officer, explained that the police had no choice but to use force. “The crowd was so huge that there was not a sufficient number of tickets,” he said. “When the tickets ran out, they didn’t believe it. So that’s when some of them tried to get in themselves. It is usual that crowds are dispersed like this with a small amount of force.”
A group of women remained defiantly beside one of the three ticket windows despite the constant threats from the police. Perhaps feeling more secure from beatings than the men, they were adamant that not all 7,000 tickets could have been sold so quickly. “I got here at 7pm last night,” one woman, Nikita, told me. “I cannot believe they would have sold out. There must be more.”
The ICC has condemned the events. It had already written to Sharad Pawar, chairman of the World Cup organising committee, to air their “serious concerns” over distribution and sale of tickets.
The stadium holds 38,000, but the bulk of the tickets have been given to the member clubs of the Karnataka Cricket Association (KCA) or to the International Cricket Council for sponsors.
Reports claim that as few as 4,000 tickets will be made available for the April 2 final in Mumbai. “With the significant demand and little availability, there is potential for chaos and physical injury when the box office sales open,” the ICC warned. “For this reason we strongly recommend that this sale of tickets be cancelled.”
The ICC’s worst fears were realised this morning when barricades were pushed over and a number of injured people were taken away on stretchers as police attempted to keep order.
The match had originally been slated to take place at the 90,000-capacity Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
With renovation work on the ground running behind schedule, however, the ICC made the decision to switch the match to Chinnaswamy ground, which has a capacity of only 45,000. With many tickets already given to sponsors, commercial partners and local associations, the squeeze has been placed on normal fans.
Javagal Srinath, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, said: “A mad rush is expected for any good match. A lot of people desire to watch the match. About 6,000 tickets have been sold at the gate. We are trying to cover as much as possible.
“But for a match of this magnitude, even if you double [the capacity] or triple, it’s not enough. The biggest challenge we are facing now is trying to meet the expectation of people, and that’s not possible. There is a limit till where we can keep people happy. Beyond that, unhappy people will always say things which we can’t answer.”
On Monday an official website selling tickets for the final crashed after millions of people tried to log on to buy tickets for the final.