AFC Asian Cup Final 2011 farce 29 Jan

That's great to know that there will be no such issues in Australia like people faced in UAE for football matches, However, I will definitely follow your advice while going for matches. Whatelse I need to care of while going in other cities for matches like hotels, transportation time, cost, phone service, food and drink suggestions, etc.

If you go to Australia for this event then this sort of thing won't happen to you. It just appears to be here in Doha that you have to get to an event at least 2 hours before it starts or risk getting locked out. The hundreds of people who were locked out of this event all had valid tickets (we were among them) and most managed to get refunds as they realised what a cluster stuff up it was. Felt really sorry for one guy who was next to us who had flown from Japan and come straight from the airport. If your time between cities is short then obviously flying is the best way to get around but if you have a week or so to get from Sydney to Melbourne (for example) then I would advise renting a car and having a look around. <em>edited by Ali68 on 14/11/2014</em>

We tried to see the final, three tickets bought from an offical booth. We were refused entry at the gate with hundreds and hundreds of (irritated) others 30 minutes before the game. I do not understand why. Ticket mentions no time to arrive by, only kick-off it 18:00. Very unimpressed with the organisers. Do any of you know what the problem was? Stadium full? Sold too many tickets? Some ticket scam/copying going on? I want to get my money back. Where is the best place to ask? Thanks I really feel sorry for you that all this happened to you. However. I would recommend you to buy tickets from the official website of AFC Asian Cup, which is http://www.afcasiancup.com/ in case you are planning to go this time. I have decided I'm going to be making the trip in 2015 to Australia for the AFC Asian Cup. It would be great if you guys can let me know the best way to get from city to city? <em>edited by tamannakhan on 14/11/2014</em>

Towards the end of the game it did say that the official head count was over 37000. I read the stadium holds 50000. We went with friends and got there early and parked on the street about mile away. I don't know what time it was but by the time we got to our seats, I don't remember waiting long too kick off. We went for a drink at about 30 minutes and we saw a crowd outside the gates and someone shouting over the loud speaker - we thought they were 'just practising' crowd control for 2022 ;-) At 90 minutes, when it went to overtime, we jumped ship and walked to Villagio to get a taxi home :(

Bubblewrap83, twin sister and photocopied tickets, come to mind :( - after all, it was only a rehearsal! Had everybody been forewarned, I am sure everybody would have had fun.

In that vein Sega, the tickets I had in my had weren't tickets at all. In fact I was never there. I'm frankly impressed at their ability to remain in denial.

Catonclan, I wrote some comments to go with the link that I've just posted but decided to delete all. In polite words, we have all definitely imagined what happened on Friday even when it has been reported by Al Jazeera and the local newspapers. Who knows, may be the real final was in fact taking place in Al Khor and the one at Khalifa Stadium was just a little warm up!:\:

Did they go to the same match as all those who didn't get in?????? None so blind as those who don't wish to see!! (or took the bribe??).

Article of interest :\: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar-sport/141007-world-cup-trial-run-ends-on-high-note.html

We wanted to go but after the Brazil v England match we were loathe to. Aside from the glow sticks raining down on not only the pitch but the spectators (a girl in front of us took one of those sticks to the side of her face and by the end of the match was sporting a real shiner) - when we left, there were NO lights on in the stairwell exit. We went down several flights of stairs in darkness with about 400 other people pushing and shoving, it's a miracle that no one was seriously hurt. This is the issue for me, the safety aspect. They give away free tickets on top of the ones that are sold. The stadiums have a capacity which seemingly doesn't matter here as it's 'only Qatar' - so once you have more than the capacity, with people sitting on the stairs, crowding round the stairwell entrances, smokers......(yes even under the no smoking signs - who'd a thunk it??) you have a major catastrophe waiting to happen. I can't believe that FIFA & the AFC people don't have guidelines to follow..........of course they do but are they ever put into practice?

I got locked out also. We arrived about 17:20 at the stadium, my dh and son joined the queues to get in but from the past matches I knew I had to find the ladies queue (which is never marked btw and you can't tell from looking at the queues because the men alway join them and then get told at the last minute that it's a ladies queue- but that's another issue!) So my dh and son and his friend were inside already by the time I got to the front of the queue and they shut the gates, no explanation, nothing. After about ten minutes people started getting really angry but they were just shouting and chanting, so out came the riot police. They entered one of the queue 'cages' and started hitting people to make them fall back. More and more people were joining the queue and some started to push, I was stuck at the front of the gate with nowhere to go. It was seriously scary and the security were laughing. Fortunately after waiting for about 30 minutes for some unknown reason they let a few us in, so I was lucky! When we got into the stadium (no one checked our tickets) their were people in our 4 seats, the volunteer told us to go and find other seats but I was pretty riled by now so we got our seats. It was disgraceful, they were lucky the fans were on the whole placid and the worst that they did was shout because there would have been a lot of serious injuries. Qatar should be ashamed.

15,000??? Who even knows 15,000 people...or even OF 15,000 people! LOL. They obviously didn't have much faith in people turning up for the event. In saying that the stadium was fairly full EXCEPT for the VIP section which was disgustingly empty! Should have let all the workers go and set in there on the plush chairs!! :) They did actually scan our tickets but then we got there about 5.15pm.

I have on good word that a certain Sheik in Management decided to 'invite' 15,000 non ticket holders wihtout telling any of the organising commitee, the venue manager didn't even know about it. They turned the ticket scanners off due to the deluge of people who turned up. Officials were supposed to open the gates for 20 mins between the end of the game and the fire works, as barriers had been put in place to direct people around the fireworks to ensure safety. I guess the message didn't get through to the riot police. Seriously the worst event I have ever been to, they are morons! Enough said.

It was a bit of shambles! We got there early and got in ok, it was the getting out that was the hardest. They locked the gates on the final siren....whether that was to make people stay for the fireworks show, who knows.....hundreds of people gathered at the gates, I'd hate to have seen it if an emergency happened....we got out ok though...we scurried through a hole in the fence along with a hundred or so others!

GinaM - I note your comments re how they did/or didn't let people know that they should come early. However, it is beside the point as the bottom line is, people have bought tickets to attend a match and if the whole point is to show the world how well it can be done, sorry to say it has been a penalty strike and score against QFA. Unlike a tennis match where players need full concentration and nobody being allowed in until the next break, this does not apply to the football match. Had security got their act together on how best to direct traffic the hours leading to the match (rather than block spots higgledy piggledy), people would have reached there much sooner. CSH, so sorry to hear about your husband and especially the kids and what a waste of time and money for those who travelled from Australia and Japan for such a special occasion.

I know some company's employees (and probably others) were offered free seats if they just showed up. Free buses were put on . They just wanted `bums on seats' to fill the stadium. Shame for all of those who had paid for tickets, including my husband and children, and didn't get it. More of a shame for those who were Aussies who had come all the way from Australia just for the match - which I understand was quite a few. I am sure that lessons will be learned from this - I am just glad nobody was hurt in the general melee.

Quote from your link Sega - "We were urging everybody to come early to the match". We did get there early but just because we knew it would be a nightmare to get in but I didn't hear anywhere (and there was certainly nothing on our tickets or told to us when we bought them) that we should get there early. Not quite sure what medium they used people to get there early. Also there is a slight difference between "urging" people to do something and letting them know that if they weren't in by a certain time they wouldn't get in.

Well we were some of the lucky ones and got in but it was chaos in there. We were denied entry to the section where our seats were and they were 'full' then redirected to another area. When we asked officials what would happen if the ticket holders for those seats turned up we were told they wouldn't...I guess by then they had closed the gates. I spoke to an employee at Aspire this afternoon and she told me that all staff members received an e-mail on Thursday afternoon saying that if they arrived at 4.30pm with a friend/family member they would be admited for free if they just showed their pass. What a joke!

Here we go Bubblewrap83 : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/30/us-soccer-asian-final-tickets-idUSTRE70T0UV20110130 whilst Al Jazeerah (RachelA's thread) has given a more realistic report.

To add to the farce, the organizing committee released a statement blaming fans and insisting only 700 people had valid tickets. Everyone else did not. Really? Who exactly was counting, because the entire time I was there there was not a single official present to offer an explanation or put in appearance? Only towards the end of half time did they send some poor contractor with no authority out to apologize. I suppose hoping someone will do the right thing is too much.

Sophie and AJdubai, I fully appreciate your frustration. I have promised myself that if I am around for the next one, I will take the trouble of e-mailing/phoning the Complex to check where I can get the free tickets that they dish out as then at least if I cannot get in or miss part of the match, I will have a lesser grudge as it is free:\:. I do not think they sold more tickets than seats available (Asia Cup or Tennis) but they get carried away in allowing people in for free to fill the seats so that it looks good on TV - after all, if you keep having a commentator regular saying :"They really do like their tennis in Qatar, etc," on days when it is just about one third full, you keep wondering whether the guy is reporting live or from a bunker underground.

Blini, I faced a similar situation at the recent Exxon Mobil Men's Tennis Tournament. Having taken the trouble of buying tickets as soon as they were available on the internet (paying the surcharge), two days in a row, I went to find other people occupying our numbered seats. Each time, they informed me that the lady, i.e. Marshall, said it was OK. On one day, the two people occupying our seats did not have tickets, and the other day, an old couple felt our seats had better view than theirs. On each occasion, I firmly and politely ask them to move. I sent a straight to the point e-mail to the Khalifa Complex via their website and promised them that if the same happened for the final, they can rest assured that I will react very strongly and asked whether next year I should bother to buy tickets at all if they were willing to give it for free just to fill the Complex - more fooled me for having spent money. Fortunately, it did not happen but they also never bothered to acknowledge my e-mail (not that I cared but courtesy is not the order of the day). On the day of the final, those who went would have noticed the very long queue and quite a few people missed the first part of the match. . You were one of the lucky ones. DH and his colleague had tickets to the finals. They got there with plenty of time to spare but couldn't get any parking space. People were double parking everywhere, traffic was chaotic. It was absolutely diabolical, so they left without even bothering. It might have been a world class event, but they couldn't even get the simple logistics of it right.

Sega, we faced the same at the final of Exxon Mobil Men's and we were very disappointed, there were a lot of people waiting to be seated with tickets in their hands and obviously no places to sit. I think they have sold more tickets than the seats available which was very frustrating. I think I will never try to buy tickets for any event in Qatar.

Blini, I faced a similar situation at the recent Exxon Mobil Men's Tennis Tournament. Having taken the trouble of buying tickets as soon as they were available on the internet (paying the surcharge), two days in a row, I went to find other people occupying our numbered seats. Each time, they informed me that the lady, i.e. Marshall, said it was OK. On one day, the two people occupying our seats did not have tickets, and the other day, an old couple felt our seats had better view than theirs. On each occasion, I firmly and politely ask them to move. I sent a straight to the point e-mail to the Khalifa Complex via their website and promised them that if the same happened for the final, they can rest assured that I will react very strongly and asked whether next year I should bother to buy tickets at all if they were willing to give it for free just to fill the Complex - more fooled me for having spent money. Fortunately, it did not happen but they also never bothered to acknowledge my e-mail (not that I cared but courtesy is not the order of the day). On the day of the final, those who went would have noticed the very long queue and quite a few people missed the first part of the match. The only way we managed to get in on time was to have a right conversation with security guards at the entrance reserved for officials. Although they had a security scan there, no way were they going to let anybody through but we did not give up and eventually got in when the national anthem was being played. It was noticeable how many attendees were with flags of countries participating in the Asian Cup and I just thought that it was excellent they were making the most of the opportunity until I learned from one of them that they were offered free tickets at the last football match to attend the tennis. What happened last night was totally unacceptable and I can understand the anger of those being there with tickets and not being allowed in. I sincerely hope they will have a refund.

There is apparently going to be a press conference today to address what happened yesterday. Hopefully they will discuss ticket refunds then. I feel so sorry for those of you that missed out. Was getting tweets and msgs all from about 45 mins before kick off that the gates had been closed. Rumours are that they panicked that the stadium would be empty so let lots in without tickets. I know of at least two groups of people who managed to get in and found people without tickets in their seats. They really should outsource the marshalling in events like this to prevent this happening, also to prevent people being let in when the stadium is full. We were at the England v Brazil game and there were people sitting on all the stairs up to the higher levels, highly dangerous in the event of having to evacuate the stadium. The average 'marshall' at events like these are very similar to the guys in the malls who won't stop people from smoking under the 'No Smoking' signs, one whiff of a threat and they'd probably let anyone in without a ticket. Its such a shame, I actually felt a lot of pride for Qatar and was constantly defending the 2022 bid on Twitter to people who were very derogatory when it was awarded. Now I feel embarrassed for them, some heads need to roll on this (not literally obviously LOL)

Here is the report of the ticket nightmare from Al Jazeera English. This doesn't bode well for "expect amazing." http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/football/2011/01/201112921940597529.html

So sorry to hear about your experience and I couldn't agree more, you should get your money back. Here are 2 numbers which I got when I was trying to get tickets for the Brazil v England in 2009 - I hope they are still correct. 44 94 44 17 - Have a vague memory this is a general number at QFA 44 94 40 30 - That was a specific number for somebody who knew when tickets would become available, he may be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.

Japan won 1-0 in extra time. Watched it on TV. Very disappointed with all experience.