Rush for final tickets: angry fans damage counter at Ambedkar Stadium

A police man checks the ticket counter damaged by angry fans at the Ambedkar Stadium in Kochi on Saturday. Photo: E. V. Sreekumar

Kochi: Getting hold of a ticket for Sunday's ISL final between Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata has been a hazardous task. Passionate fans, who failed to land a ticket for the big game, gave vent to their ire by damaging the ticket counter of the Ambedkar Stadium in Kochi on the final eve.

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue of the final, too witnessed heated exchanges between frustrated fans and the policemen on Saturday evening. The fans pointed out that tickets are available in the black market and that agents are making huge profits by selling the tickets at exorbitant price. Meanwhile, three persons were arrested for selling tickets in the black market.

Read also: Resolute ATK stand between Blasters and glory on home turf


There has been a mad rush for tickets following Blasters' win over Delhi Dynamos in the semifinals Wednesday night.

The online portal, bookmyshow.com, ran out of their quota by Thursday early morning. 

Angry fans argue with a police man at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Saturday. Photo: E. V. Sreekumar

The site reported a surge in ticket bookings post the result on Wednesday. 

Box-office sales at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kaloor, also ended by Thursday afternoon. Gallery tickets for Rs 300 were being sold through the counter at the stadium.

Tickets for Blasters' matches till the semifinals were available at the Federal Bank and Muthoot Fincorp branches. However, this facility has been unavailable for the title clash as the final is organized by the ISL organizers themselves unlike the other games in Kochi which were hosted by Blasters.

Most of Blasters' games have been played in front of nearly packed stadium and the attendance has been generally over 50,000.