Chaos was the order of the day at the Asia Cup final in Qatar as more than 10,000 fans with legitimate tickets were denied entry to the stadium.
Reporters on the ground indicated that the final had been oversold, reporting that officials were dismissive of the problem saying that fans should have arrived earlier to the game.
Australian freelance journalist and media consultant Rachel Morris was reporting from the stadium via her Twitter feed. She said that there were suggestions that much of the problem came from the Qatari organizers allowing access to fans without tickets.
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“Rumors (of)1000s without tickets (getting) into stadium,” she wrote. “Some reports that ticketless people already sitting in seats when legit holders arrived.”
Morris stressed that the crowd outside the stadium remained peaceful. However riot police were deployed (the video above seems to confirm that report) to control the situation.
“Just saw ISF guys with batons. Crowd peaceful. Signs on ticket boxes red "sold out". Security guard told me ‘should have been here at 2 p.m.’,” she wrote
Saying that she was “completely embarrassed for her adopted home” Morris reported talking to fans that had travelled several thousand kilometres to watch the game only to be turned away.
The Asia Cup is the first major football even hosted by Qatar since the awarding of the World Cup to the country. Today’s events will not ease concerns many have over the appropriateness of awarding the World Cup to a country as inexperienced at major event hosting as Qatar.