http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in New Zealand: Fans denied entrance to Eden Park stadium
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s infamous stadium Eden Park was entangled in yet another controversy as thousands of cricket fans were left outside the stadium due to a printing error in the tickets on the Boxing Day.
Many cricket fans were left dejected as they were barred to enter the stadium for hours. The Eden Park authorities were trying to figure out why the tickets were being rejected by the system. Thousands of fans had lined up outside the Eden Park’s gate for
the first Twenty20 match between New Zealand and Pakistan.
The stadium staff and authorities were flabbergasted about the mix up as the tickets that were bought online by 3,500 fans carried the wrong date. The barcode on the tickets read 20 December instead of 26 December 2010 and that is why the ticket machine
rejected the tickets.
As the officials figured out the problem, the fans were left irritated as they had to wait in long queues.
About 17,000 spectators were expected for the Boxing Day match and the authorities hoped that the day ran smoothly as the Eden Park trust had taken “a range of measures” prior to the Boxing Day.
However, things turned ugly when the irate fans had to face ejection as thousands of Pakistani and Black Caps’ supporters had to wait for more than an hour before they were able to buy tickets on the spot. There were no separate ticket counters and the long
lines grew even longer as those spectators who had to buy on-the-spot tickets also had to face the wrath of the horrible mix-up.
Eden Park already had its share of bad publicity as the newly revamped stadium faced several management issues. Just last month, there were calls for greater security at the stadium after a Four Nations rugby league international game turned ugly as a crowd
of some 44,500 people hurled plastic bottles and drink containers on the players which left a few spectators injured. The spectators also booed the Australian national anthem as it raised calls for more security personnel.
The Eden Park Trust is getting ready to host the Rugby World Cup next year and the revamped stadium failed the trials.
However, New Zealand Cricket intervened and asked Ticketek- the official ticket sponsor of the series, to distribute the match tickets.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/David-Kennedy-c53015, chief executive of the Eden Park Trust apologised for the minor glitch and conceded that they have asked for a batch of tickets to be tested in advance through the scanners.
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