ISL: long queues and lathi charge, let the games begin!

City

With hundreds lining up to grab their tickets, the scene at Kanteerva Stadium turns chaotic

Bangalore, March 15, 2018: Come Saturday, the city will see what people are calling the Cauvery Derby between Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin FC for the Indian Super League in football.

But, a battle for tickets has already started at the Kanteerva Stadium as hundreds of football fans lined up to buy the last remaining seats.

The venue for the final match was recently shifted from Kolkata to Bengaluru and so on Saturday  March 17, former champions Chennaiyin FC will face Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

However, one needs a government ID to get tickets. Every person with a valid ID is eligible for four tickets.

Many found this move useful as Shashank, a student who was there with his friends said that this would discourage people from hoarding tickets and selling them for extra afterwards.

Interestingly, some like Ronald a Bengaluru FC fan found the move to be “dumb” as it restricted people to do group bookings. He added that all his friends had to come as IDs were required this time around.

He had in fact waited since six in the morning to get his tickets from the booking office.

Sarthak pointed out ruckus at the booking counter as scores of policemen stood there tackling people who tried to break the line and get in. At one point, they even resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the enthusiasts.

He further blamed the vendor, BookMyShow for mishandling the ticket sale at the stadium which led to the confusion and ruckus around the area.

Pijush Bose, a street vendor who has setup a food stall near the booking stall said he is appalled to see the huge crowd there and he hopes that the match would turn out to be excellent.

Kunaal Majgaonkar,Bengaluru FC’s media coordinator said that they were already this many people to line for the ticket sale.They have seen crowds of 20,000-25,000 in their last two matches.However,he declined to comment on the lathi-charge as he said that the League is responsible for selling the tickets.

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