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Bhubaneswar: After charges of irregularities during online and offline sale of tickets for the Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup, allegations of black marketing of tickets have now surfaced.
The matter came to fore after video showing tickets being black marketed went viral yesterday. Reportedly, a youth was seen selling tickets at much higher prices than the original rates in full public view at a counter near Gate number 4 of the Kalinga Stadium.
Sources said Rs 100 ticket was being sold at the rate of Rs 2000 while Rs 500 ticket was priced between Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000.
The day the online ticket sale began, several fans were left disappointed owing to severe technical glitches they faced while trying to book tickets online.
However, much to the surprise, spectators alleged that several seats inside the stadium remained vacant during the opening ceremony yesterday and tickets were being sold in black outside the Stadium. They have further alleged that the employees at the counters are involved in the black marketing.
Blaming the organisers for the discrepancies, Muktikanta Nayak, a spectator alleged, “We could not get any tickets online and the main reason behind it is that they had hoarded the tickets for black marketing despite several seats remaining vacant inside the stadium. The employees are openly selling tickets in black that too even at the rate of thousands of rupees per ticket."
However, the Hockey India and the Kalinga Stadium authorities are yet to comment on the matter.
It is to be noted that during the build up to the World Cup event, offline sale of tickets began on November 5 and much to the disappointment of fans, tickets for the opening match, quarter final, semi-final and final matches ran out within minutes on the very first day itself.
Meanwhile, resentment is brewing among the fans over alleged mismanagement in sale and distribution of tickets and the hassles they faced during the online sale due as technical glitches in the website.
