Fake tickets rock football
Kabelo Boranabi | Saturday September 23, 2023 06:00
The two teams faced off in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round, with Galaxy securing a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The National Stadium was abuzz with fans, hosting a sold-out crowd of over 18,000 spectators, with the remaining seats reserved in the 22,500-capacity venue.
While the on-field action showcased top-class football, the scenes at the stadium entrance were far from ideal. Mmegi Sport witnessed an incident during halftime where a handful of fans were denied entry due to the presentation of counterfeit match tickets.
This incident took place at the Grand Stand entrance, and a security personnel member informed this publication that it was not the sole occurrence that afternoon.
"We turned away numerous people today because they had purchased fake tickets. We were aware that some individuals were secretly selling tickets inside the stadium, but most of those tickets turned out to be fake.
There were quite a number of people we turned away here (Grand Stand entrance), so we wonder how many others were affected at the other gates," the security personnel told Mmegi Sport. Galaxy's public relations officer, Tankiso Morake was reserved in his comments regarding the matter, indicating that the club is yet to finalise the match day report as of Wednesday. "We have not finalised the report; we are still working on [compiling] everything that happened at the stadium. But I can confirm that all our tickets were sold out.
Regarding the issue of fake tickets, I have not seen the report on that. We have put up security measures to differentiate an authentic ticket from a fake one. Let us await the finalisation of the report, and we will have more to say on that," Morake said. The tie drew the biggest crowd this year since the Gaborone Derby between Township Rollers and Gaborone United earlier this year. Rollers and South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs recently packed the National Stadium to capacity, but it was for a friendly match.
Spectators at the venue expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of ticket verification on the day. A video circulated on social media after the game, depicting spectators attempting to enter the stadium forcibly at the North Stand entry point. However, no injuries or arrests were reported.