Tension at Uppal Gymkhana Ground over India-Australia match ticket sale
The Hindu
Fans allege poor handling of ticket sale by Hyderabad Cricket Association; Police resort to lathicharge
It was a nightmare for the thousands of cricket fans who descended on the Gymkhana Ground with the hope of purchasing tickets for the T-20 international match between India and Australia, scheduled to be held at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad on Thursday.
It was a sorry sight to see so many women cricket fans who were standing in the queue since early morning, with some of them were seen holding kids in their arms. Many were injured in the utter chaos at the Ground even as police had to resort to lathicharge the fans.
Though there were reports of a woman fan succumbing to the injuries in the melee, the top police official at the spot was seen insisting to a TV channel that it was not true and only some were rushed for treatment of minor injuries.
“We don’t think they even sold 100 tickets at the two counters even after two hours of wait after the sale began at 10.00 am today,” the fans alleged.
“It was a clear case of poor handling of the ticket sale and questioned the logic of HCA in selling tickets when online transactions would have been more viable and easier for us,” many fans complained.
“We came here to buy tickets not to face this kind of treatment. We blame the HCA for this complete mess,” said one of the irate fans who was trapped in the chaos.
Many questioned the way HCA top brass handled the tickets sale and even alleged that according to the officials only 3,000 tickets were available for selling inside the two counters.