International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat on Saturday had a tough time explaining the issue of less number of tickets the India-England match being available to fans at the box office
International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat on Saturday had a tough time explaining the issue of less number of tickets the India-England match being available to fans at the box office.
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| u00a0ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat addresses a press conference at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. Pic/AFP |
The former South African chairman of selectors gave an insensitive twist to the incident of police lathi charging fansu00a0 outside Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, saying the mad scramble reflected the popularity of the 50-over format of the game.
"None of us want to see something like that again. The rush for tickets is an indication of how popular ICC's flagship event is," Lorgat said.
"It is also a fact that the local police and the local associations know how best to handle it. It is something we have no control over."
Several were injured when more than 30,000 people lined up outside the stadium to buy tickets whereas only 7000 tickets were available at the counter.
Lorgat said that the violent scenes in Bangalore prompted the ICC to suggest a ballot process for the ticket sales for the semi-finals and final.
"What is unfortunate is (only) a few numbers go to the public in a general sale - whether it's through the clubs, associates or ICC sponsors. It is a fact of life that we have a commitment to the sponsors, who have supported us over a long period of time.
"It is a much fairer way (ballot system) and will avoid the kind of physical risks we want to avoid. It will be a much better way to release tickets," added Lorgat.
Lorgat defended the letter written by ICC's legal head to President, Sharad Pawar, on Thursday. "We wrote to the President to resolve the ticketing crisis, turned to him for support, not to complain," he said.
Lorgat found himself in a tight spot when he asserted that the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which will host the April 2 final, had hosted a few Twenty20 matches before getting the clearance from the ICC venue inspection team.
Cleared"There are experts who have cleared the stadium. Some T20 matches were played there. Our experts won't pass the stadium if they were not happy with the preparedness," he said.
Actually, the Wankhede, which missed the deadline for completion of renovation work, was given the nod without a match being held. In fact, the stadium was officially unveiled only last Sunday and a trial match, a local T20 tournament final, would be played today.
