World Cup tickets: Fans wait in long queues but return empty handed

Chandra Prabhu | NT

Bengaluru: More than 2,000 fans who had gathered outside Chinnaswamy stadium in the city early Tuesday morning, turned furious after they were unable to puchase tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup match to be held here on Friday.

Much fancied teams Australia and Pakistan will clash in the match which starts at 2 pm on Friday. Balu, who works in a private company, waited in the queue from six in the morning at Gate 2 of the stadium on Cubbon Road.

"I am hugely disappointed. I had skipped office and my breakfast to get my hands on a ticket for the AustraliaPakistan match," he told News Trail.

He also recalled the incident where fans couldn't get tickets for an Indian Premier League (IPL) match last March.

"Fans feel betrayed. If the authorities keep repeating this, our excitement to watch these matches will fizzle out," he added. Karthik, one of the vocal fans waiting in the queue, shared similar concerns.

"How can the tickets get sold out in just a few hours? It looks like mismanagement by the authorities,” he said while alleging that the sale of tickets is not fair.

"Tickets for matches like these need to be sold properly. We can't have 10-15 people getting all the tickets," he retorted. According to sources, tickets costing Rs 1000 were sold to 50 people while tickets costing Rs 3000 were sold out to a handful.

It is also alleged that some buyers who managed to get their hands on tickets, resold them at exorbitant rates. When asked about this, both ticketing officials and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) refused to speak on the matter.