A number of Al-Faisaly fans expressed frustration over the phenomenon of black-market ticket sales for matches, following their team's clash with Al-Wehdat, held two days ago in the first round of the professional football league, which ended in a scoreless draw.
اضافة اعلان
Several Al-Faisaly fans spoke to Al Ghad after the match, voicing their frustration over the mechanism used to sell and distribute tickets, especially after the team's tickets sold out many hours before kickoff, even as parts of the stands appeared not fully filled.
Fans said they were surprised, upon entering the stadium, to find that the first-tier stands designated for Al-Faisaly supporters were not fully occupied, despite the announcement that tickets had sold out, noting that a fairly sizable space remained empty, which raised questions among them about the ticket-sale mechanism and the reasons tickets ran out so long before the match.
They added that the problem isn't limited to ticket unavailability, but extends to what they described as a recurring ordeal with the black market, where some fans, they said, are forced to buy tickets at prices higher than face value, only to be surprised upon arriving at the stadium gates that the same ticket had been sold to more than one person, causing confusion and preventing them from entering the stands despite traveling long distances to attend the match.
Several fans noted that they sometimes find themselves forced to look for tickets outside the football federation's official website, especially when the site comes under heavy load due to strong fan demand, making it difficult to access or complete the ticket-purchase process in time.
Fans affirmed that this problem now needs serious attention, especially given its recurrence in high-attendance matches, calling on the football federation to reconsider the mechanism for selling match tickets and work toward finding more effective solutions that ensure tickets reach fans fairly and curb their exploitation on the black market.
They stressed the need for the ticket-selling process to be more organized and transparent, along with the importance of finding mechanisms that prevent a single ticket from being sold to more than one fan, in addition to addressing the malfunctions or heavy traffic the website may experience during periods of high demand.
The fans believe that the continuation of this dilemma could negatively affect fan attendance at stadiums, especially since a fan who faces difficulties obtaining a ticket, or runs into a problem entering the stands, may hesitate to attend matches in the future.
They affirmed that fans are the fundamental pillar of the game of football, and that stadium atmosphere and crowd attendance are an essential part of the enjoyment of domestic competitions, and that therefore preserving fan attendance requires addressing all the obstacles standing in its way, chief among them tickets and the black market.
A number of Al-Faisaly fans concluded by affirming that finding practical, swift solutions to this issue has become necessary, warning that if the situation continues as is, it could gradually lead to a segment of fans losing interest in attending matches, which would ultimately reflect on the Jordanian football scene as a whole.
Source: Al-Ghad. Reporting by: Mohammad Arabiyat
