Officials struggle to ease demand
Police arrest 70 soccer ticket scalpers
Posted: Sunday December 13, 1998 02:24 PM
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Asian Games officials struggled Sunday to bring the sale of soccer tickets under control and announced that 70 scalpers had been arrested in connection with a shortage that triggered violence Saturday by thousands of angry fans.
Four more ticket booths were opened Sunday to help meet the demand on sales at Rajamangala National Stadium, where host Thailand is to play heavily favored South Korea in the quarterfinals Monday. Buyers were to be limited to five tickets.
"We must reduce the pressure outside the stadium," Sakchye Tupsuwan, chairman of the Asian Games technical committee, told a news conference Sunday. "We are trying to solve this problem, but it is difficult, particularly with football."
Sakchye, who urged soccer-mad Thais to stay home and watch Monday's match on television, said that scalpers at Saturday's group decider between Thailand and Qatar had driven up prices by three to five times their original value.
Thousands of people had camped outside the stadium before the official opening of the ticket booths at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sakchye said. Noting the large numbers, officials opened sales early and when more people showed up at the normal hours, tickets were gone.
Ticketless fans stormed the stadium fences and threw bottles, cans and shoes at riot police.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
