New Delhi: The 2023 Cricket World Cup that kicked off last week seems to have already invited fans’ fury over alleged mismanagement of ticket sales for various matches.
The issue escalated after the high-profile India-Australia match in Chennai on Sunday (October 8) had low attendance despite tickets being unavailable online.
“I have seen World Cup matches across the world. You have ballots and once you choose matches you can get tickets to one or more matches. Even in Wimbledon, the ballot is open for a few days and then a draw of lots is done,” noted lawyer and cricket enthusiast Safir Anand told the Economic Times.
He added the ticket system for the ongoing tournament is “flawed”. “It needed you to rely on a portal that kept crashing out on day one. Didn’t show any accurate info on waiting and even if you logged in and saw seats, it created problems in picking them,” Anand said. “Moreover, in World Cup cricket seats are being randomly opened as if cricket lovers should remain logged in 24×7,” he said, adding that the limited booking time works on the assumption that a person has already sorted hotels, airlines, trains, etc.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is facing flak from all quarters for its handling of ticket sales for the mega event amid low attendance in the first few matches, the Economic Times reported.
According to the report, fans have also questioned the BCCI’s event management skills in light of the poor spectator turnout despite India being dubbed as a cricket-crazy nation. It may be noted that BCCI is the world’s richest and most powerful cricket body, having earned Rs 27,411 crore in revenue in five years between FY18 and FY22.
Many also drew comparisons with the previous World Cup in England, which generated a total economic impact of more than £350 million for the host nation.
To alleviate the situation, BCCI announced 14,000 tickets late last week for the India-Pakistan match to be held on October 14 in Ahmedabad. However, fans have been complaining about the unavailability of match tickets since the last week of August.
At the time, former BCCI executives had told the Economic Times that the Indian cricket body had made a huge mistake by delaying the release of the event schedule, then changing the dates of some games, including that of the India-Pakistan match, and finally only issuing a limited number of tickets for online sales.
“There is no transparency over the distribution of tickets,” a former BCCI official had said on condition of anonymity. “Ideally, BCCI could have planned this better. If you look at other international sporting events, match tickets go on sale well in advance. This gives fans enough time to plan their travel and make their hotel and flight bookings.”