There is an air of discomfort as one makes his way into Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the Indian Super League season three final between Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata. While on the exterior everything looks happy — barring the huge billboard in front of the stadium in which both C. K. Vineeth and Iain Hume are sporting frowns — the organisation of the mega-event has raised many eyebrows.
Thousands of Blasters faithful, people from across the world who haven’t missed a single home-game yet, are still queued up in front of the ticket-counter, even though there are signs stuck everywhere informing them that tickets have been sold-out.
“We heard that around 5000 tickets are yet to be sold. We don’t want to miss such a big football event,” said Nisar, who came to the city on Saturday from his native town in North Kerala. The optimism, though, is running thin and there is feeling that it might lead to an angry mob, as the match moves closer to the kick-off.
“Why were tickets given in 50s and 100s? Now we true fans, who didn’t back away even when the team was struggling last season, don’t have tickets while some rich VIP will flaunt a fake Blasters jersey for a selfie inside the stadium,” said an angry young man, who intruded the conversation with a security guard placed next to the VIP entrance.
While it is understandable that tickets cannot be sold beyond the stadium capacity of 60,000, one can only wonder why large screens haven’t been installed outside the stadium or across the city, to cater to the demand.
The atmosphere resembles that of the 1997 Nehru Cup semifinal played between India and Iraq. The security and organisers had failed to contain the crowd that night, in which it is believed, over a lakh people gushed in to see India’s penalty shoot-out loss against the eventual winner.
The frustration in not being able to procure tickets has hit everyone. Local newspaper Mathrubhumi reported that former Indian striker and Kerala’s pride I. M. Vijayan was offered only a general ticket for the event.
Amidst all this, reports have also emerged that two black-ticket sellers have been caught by police. Rs. 300 tickets are selling like hot cakes for Rs. 3000.
The entry into the stadium was opened at 3:30 p.m. and one can already see thousands of fans inside the stadium. Blasters’ fan group, the Manjappada (Yellow Army) has already taken up the East Stand. The infectious energy of the fans is keeping everyone optimistic for a really entertaining final.
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