Illegal sale of Zebras tickets rampant
Koketso Kgoboge | Wednesday November 18, 2015 14:29
A number of fans bought tickets at inflated prices at the gate from people who buy in advance only to re-sale at a profit.
The Zebras games’ Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson, Eatlametse Olopeng said they are happy with the outcome but continue to learn.
“We have done well in our preparations for the past game and we have recorded no issues affecting our supporters, our team and our visitors. We knew the magnitude of this game beforehand and we had prepared well,” Olopeng said.
However, Olopeng said there are challenges of people selling tickets at the stadium. He warned that it is illegal and such people will be taken to task. “We still have challenges of people buying tickets at the stadium, which tempts those with tickets to sell at very high prices and others to circulate tickets. Some people buy tickets in bulk to later do business at unregulated prices and it is against the law to do so.
“This has created a culture that is growing with every game and that is cheating and taking advantage of our clients, therefore we warn all those who carry out those practices that they will be arrested and we will blacklist such people and deny them future access to any activities at the stadium,” Olopeng forewarned. He further said the problem of circulating tickets and other people that go into the stadium illegally, pose a lot of danger for other Batswana.
“There are some people who enter the stadium through ungazetted points and don’t go through the capturing machines therefore we don’t get to record them. We also have a problem of those people we have deployed circulating their accreditations to their friends.
“This is what causes crowding at the stadium and it could bring a lot of damage. It can also result in commotion and maybe collapse of the stadium and put innocent lives in danger,” he said.
Furthermore, Olopeng complained about alcohol. “Alcohol is not allowed into the stadium and people have many ways of sneaking it in. We have confiscated a truckload of alcohol and we still realised there was alcohol in the stadium. We will intensify our screening in future, it might cause delays but we are going to do it,” he said. He also added that the issue of traffic is the one that will continue to beat them and can only be solved when all the stakeholders come together and draw a solution. “It will take us to construct a dual carriage way or contrary find a parking area for all the fans and hire buses to transport them to the stadiums as done in other countries,” he added.