There’s little wonder why people have lost faith in the Asian Football Confederation. Only a few days ago we witnessed the pinnacle of the Asian football calendar – the final of the Asian Cup between powerhouse Asian rivals Australia and Japan.
Although the game was pulsating and kept viewers grasping for air, the event was overshadowed by unneeded controversy.
The Qatar Football Association along with the AFC came up with the belated idea of giving away thousands of free tickets to local workers because organisers feared that ticket holders would not show up. Consequently, thousands of Australian and Japanese supporters were stranded outside the Khalifa Stadium and were stopped from entering the ground.
How can a football association give away free tickets when people have evidently purchased a ticket for the football fixture?
It’s one extreme to give away free tickets when the demand isn’t there for the event, however handing out tickets due to the fear of supporters not turning up is almost unbelievable given it was the final. Undoubtedly there was little faith in their business strategy throughout the tournament if the Qatari Football Association and the AFC had to go to such extreme measures in order to fill the stadium.
There is clearly a lack of belief and integrity in their football strategy. In turn, they have only dented their reputations and, in addition, made a mockery of what should have been a celebration of Asian football.
It doesn’t do Qatar’s reputation any justice and more so the AFC’s.
For an event which is seen by over a billion people, the organisers running this event have once again demonstrated why Asia is still a developing region and still has much to learn.
Many Australian fans only decided to make the pilgrimage over to Doha once the Socceroos qualified for the Asian Cup final. Expensive flights, accommodation, loss of working wages back at home and most importantly a ticket to the lucrative final was purchased by these fans.
It’s hard not to feel sympathy and compassion for these supporters who only had the desire to witness their nation win our first major piece of silverware.
One can only imagine how disheartening it would have been to travel half way around the world for a football game, only to then be turned down at the gates.
Would these events happen at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia? It’s highly unlikely. Unfortunately, it is hardly surprising that an incident like this has occurred when Qatar is running such an event and the head of the AFC, Mohammed Bin Hammam, comes from Qatar. It is utterly disgraceful and dishonourable to the football fans supporting Asian football and further illustrates a lack of respect towards the participating nations.
In addition, the fiasco provides a negative image for Asian football.
It creates an illusion that Asian football is run at an amateurish level in contrast to UEFA, who are highly regarded as the pinnacle governing body in football.
Will there be some form of compensation for the fans that were left stranded outside the stadium? In an ideal world, there would be.
It’s an unfortunate scenario which should have never occurred.
Nick
Guest
Yes, according to the local news in Doha today, the customers will have their tickets reimbursed... as long as they give a thousand document copies, including passport and creditcard... Great! Qatar is a joke, the most unorganized country in the world, runned by the most unprofessional people, with the greatest lack of respect to others I've ever seen... And they now have a World Cup! I can guess how it's going to be...Just like their motto, EXPECT AMAZING!
Roarchild
Roar Guru
There are U tube clips all over the net that show how poor Qatar handled it and the fans didn't look drunk to me. One shows a security staff try and hit a guy with a stick because he was filming what was going on. Rachel Morris was twittering as it was going on, some families (split up because women had to go to the appropriate area) had half there members inside and half locked out. Then after the game the fans remained locked in until the Royal family had left.
Lost in Desert
Guest
I dedicated three whole blog posts to the Asian Cup ridiculousness. Not meaning to promote my own blog, it's just that I don't want to retype all this again...:) http://blogoftheunknownwriter.blogspot.com/
Pete
Guest
May I be frank? #@$ the royal family, if this is what happens. Did Frank Lowy try to raise his voice, on the spot, and demand something be done? If he did, what did they say, or do? What about Platini and Blatter, also on the spot? Too busy hobnobbing with miscellaneous sheiks?
Futbanous
Guest
This guy & his mate did :- http://au.fourfourtwo.com/News/195299,my-asian-cup-final-pilgrimage.aspx
King of the Gorgonites
Roar Guru
i cant believe that thousands of audssies and japs were stranded? did aussies really travel over there? (besides the media).
Mick
Guest
I heard people were under the influence of alcohol & thus turned away
Judge Smails
Guest
The reports back from fans who went are all negative so far. Qatar is boring, nothing to do between games and obviously the latest business suggests corrupt too.
mintox
Guest
It is terrible that people who bought tickets to the game were not allowed in especially those that travelled long distance at great expense. However I can't help feel that you're jumping to conclusions fueled by animosity towards Qatar and Mohammed Bin Hamman for winning the World Cup bid. It's already been pointed out that the stadium seats 50,000 meaning there were at least 12,000 free seats. It can hardly be a reason that their seats were given away. More to the point, the organisers reason was that the royal family were there and therefore security didnt allow anyone in. Whether it is wrong or right to do so, it's a valid enough reason to be believable above the speculation that peoples seats were given away. It won't however cast a bad image on Asian Football, it's one game organised by one committee. We're certainly not the first federation to have controversy at a championship. More to the point though, we have had a world cup in asia and an olympic football tournament within the last 10 years both hosted with great success. This is an isolated incident that will look bad on the Qatar Asian Cup organising committee!
juro
Guest
I don't understand. According to wikipedia, the game was played at Khalifa International Stadium which has a capacity of 50,000. The attendance at the final was 37,174. Why couldn't the people with tickets sit in any of the 12,826 vacant seats?
sheek
Guest
So Robbie - why would you be surprised.....?
Midfielder
Guest
And they have the WC...
Bean
Guest
I hope people realize how big of an injustice occurred. The gates were shut long before the game began, THOUSANDS of ticket holders were refused entrance for no apparent reason, and children were separated from their families because of the gates being locked.
Klaus
Guest
I agree, this is an outrage. The Qataris should save no expense to reimburse those ticket holders that were not allowed to enter the stadium. There is video footage of hundreds of people with tickets standing in front of the stadium, 30 minutes before the game started, who are intimidated by riot police and horses. I hope this turns out to be a major PR disaster for this pitiful country.