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JAKARTA - Problems are mounting for organisers of the Asian Cup in Indonesia with poorly organised ticket sales, criticism of training pitches and a floodlight failure at the main stadium. Indonesia has had little experience in hosting big sporting events and appears to be struggling to get it right.
On Monday fans broke through emergency exits at the ageing Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta after being unable to get tickets despite plenty of seats being available for the home team’s match against Bahrain. They complained of difficulties finding out where tickets were being sold. All Indonesian Football Federation secretary general Nugraha Besoes said more booths would be opened for Indonesia’s match against Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and vowed to keep fans informed about how many seats remained.
The Jakarta Post cited football association spokesman John Halmahera as denying local organisers were supplying tickets direct to scalpers and sharing the profits with them. It claimed this was a common practice at sports events in the teeming country. Adding to their woes was a 25-minute power blackout during the heavyweight clash between South Korea and Saudi Arabia at the stadium on Wednesday. The lights on one side of the ground went out with five minutes of the game left, plunging that part of the stadium, as well as the media centre, into darkness.
“I would like to apologise for the incident,” AFC director of communication Clare Kenny Tipton said of the power cut. “There is a back-up generator and fortunately the match was able to resume.” Meanwhile, Bahrain’s veteran coach Milan Micala lashed out at the training venues, calling them “a disaster.” “It is a real disaster, a real disaster,” said the Czech after his side were beaten 2-1 by Indonesia on Tuesday. “The training fields are terrible. No one has checked the training fields.” Jakarta is the venue for the Asian Cup final on July 27.
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