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Ticket sales turn violent as fans riot
Disappointed with the poor organization of ticket sales by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), hundreds of angry soccer fans broke into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium on Sunday
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isappointed with the poor organization of ticket sales by the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), hundreds of angry soccer fans broke into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium on Sunday.
Fans also vandalized the stadium, venting their anger from having to wait for hours at the box office to get tickets for the Dec. 29 final of the AFF Suzuki Cup between Indonesia and Malaysia.
The fans — some of whom spent the night in long lines at the box office — turned on ticketing officials after being told there were no assurances they would get tickets for the 20,000 seats still available on Sunday despite already having receipts for the tickets. A PSSI official tasked to man a ticket counter at the Gelora Bung Karno was seriously injured after being mobbed by fans.
For the final match — and just like for any other match during the AFF tournament — the PSSI used a redundant ticketing system requiring fans to pay for a receipt that they could exchange for a ticket on Dec. 28. Other than selling tickets at the box office, PSSI also sells ticket online at www.ticketsas.com and www.myticket.co.id for VIP and VVIP seats.
The online system however has not been without its problems. Soon after midnight on Dec. 25, the two websites posted announcements saying that “all VVIP and VIP tickets have been sold out”.
Irate fans have called for heads to roll, including that of PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid, and some are getting behind calls to sue the PSSI.
One of the fans, Andri Saubani, said fans could file a class action suit against the PSSI for defrauding soccer fans. “Why could we not access the online system in the first 30 minutes after it opened? And why were we then informed that the tickets were sold out?” he told The Jakarta Post.
He also complained about scalpers at the box office.
Scalpers sell VIP tickets for Rp 550,000 (US$61), much higher than the official price of Rp 350,000.
Nurdin blamed thugs for the violence. He also warned soccer fans in the country that Jakarta risked being disqualified as host of the second leg of the final.
“I received a warning from the AFF that if security measures failed to control the crowd, Jakarta may not be able to host the second leg of the AFF Cup final,” he was quoted as saying by TVOne.
