|
|
||||||||||||||||||
.gif)
|
Second fake ticket shambles looms |
| Hers's looking at you, mr president There's bad news for Bulls fans today. They will have to have their tickets checked before they get into Loftus Versfeld, and they might be prevented from watching the Super 14 final if their tickets are found to be counterfeit. All 50 000 tickets have been sold out for the Pretoria stadium. Last night, a warning was issued that the 7 000 tickets allocated for sale by Computicket, Shoprite and Checkers outlets may be forged. Computicket informed the Blue Bulls Company last night that there might be counterfeit tickets in circulation and that any tickets that were not bought at its outlets may have been falsified. Tickets bought at the Loftus ticket office were not involved, the company said. The warning comes soon after allegations that Joburg's Wanderers Stadium was dangerously filled beyond capacity for the final of the Indian Premier League last Sunday because more than 7 000 counterfeit tickets had been used to get into the grounds. But last night Cricket SA denied there had been overcrowding or ticket fraud at the IPL final. A meeting between Cricket SA and Wanderers officials yesterday found that there was no evidence of overcrowding or ticket fraud. In an article published in The Star this week, stadium CEO Alan Kourie issued a statement saying there was dangerous overcrowding because fake tickets had been used by spectators at the final. But Gerald Majola, the CEO of Cricket SA, said yesterday: "As with any match, there are always isolated attempts at fraudulent entry to the stadium. Such attempts were considered negligible and in line with a normal sold-out event." The ticketing system was put into question after Kourie's statement, but Cricket SA was quick to defend its access control. Majola said that in 2003, Cricket SA implemented an access control system at all major cricket venues in the country. This system had since received various upgrades. "We are very proud to say that we are the only sporting body in South Africa with such a comprehensive and effective access control system," Majola said. Computicket had recovered 300 so-called "fraudulent" tickets from the Wanderers which were stolen from Computicket's offices. The official attendance for the final was 25 418, and this figure was recorded by the stadium's access control system. However, some people might have bypassed the system by entering the 31 000-capacity stadium through entrances without access control. "This would be in contravention of the normal operating procedures for access into the stadium," Majola said. Meanwhile, the Blue Bulls Company said that to prevent disarray and overcrowding at Loftus today, all Computicket ticket holders will need to have their tickets validated at the dedicated gates prior to entering the stadium. Computicket ticket holders who did not buy their tickets from a Computicket outlet can contact their call centre on 083 915 8000 to verify the validity of their tickets. By Sameer Naik The Saturday Star 30/05/09e1 Click here to respond to this article - Your responses will get vetted and printed on "Have your Say" Click here if you would like to be alerted to new Crime Awareness articles. |
|
.gif)
|
|
|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
[ PRIVACY POLICY ][ TERMS & CONDITIONS ]