Tension prevailed at the Kalinga Stadium here on Thursday as irate fans went on a rampage after failing to get tickets for the opening ceremony of Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup (HWC) scheduled to begin from November 28.
As per the announcement made earlier about the availability of the inaugural ceremony tickets on November 15, fans had begun to queue up before the counter no -9 near the stadium since Wednesday night. However, the authorities on the day informed that the tickets were not available.
Angry over the decision, some fans broke barricades, ripped posters and smashed the counter. To disperse the crowd and control the situation, police resorted to a lathicharge in front of the stadium.
“Hundreds of fans had been waiting to get tickets since last night because we received information that tickets would be available from today. If tickets were exhausted, the authorities should have informed about it last night itself. This kind of mismanagement for such a huge event is surprising,” said an irate fan.
Sports and Youth Services Secretary Vishal Dev had earlier announced that the tickets for the inaugural ceremony would be sold at counters on November 15.
The offline sale of tickets at the counters for the matches had begun on November 5; but much to the disappointment of fans, tickets for the opening match ran out within minutes raising tension among the fans.
While the inauguration ceremony of the much-awaited event will be held on November 27, the opening match will be played the next day. Shah Rukh Khan, who played the role of a hockey coach in Chak De India will perform during the opening ceremony along with Oscar winning music composer AR Rahman. Hosts India will begin their campaign against South Africa on November 28.