Kochi: The tickets for the all-important final of the Indian Super League (ISL) match were completely sold off a day before the kick-off. But that didn’t prevent hundreds of football fans from thronging the venue on Sunday evening which resulted in a mild police lathicharge. Die-hard fans from Malappuram and other parts of the state, who arrived in the city at least a day before the final, were seen running from pillar to post to get a ticket. And when everything failed, they even tried to barge into the stadium as the kick-off time neared.
“Despite the announcement that no tickets would be sold through box offices, ticket counters witnessed long winding queues right from Saturday midnight. The stadium witnessed multiple clashed between the cops and the hopeful fans,” a police official said. Despite the tight security, the situation got slightly out of control when fans in yellow T-shirts tried to barge into the stadium through ‘Gate No 8’ soon after the gates were opened at 3 pm. Cops had to resort to lathicharge and the youths were seen running for cover, with many tripping and falling down.
In fact, police had initially planned to make the stadium ring road accessible only to those with tickets. The plan, however, did not work given the sheer number of fans, who thronged its surroundings in hopes of getting a ticket. Earlier, the Ernakulam central police took an ISL employee into preventive custody after he picked up a fight with a group of football fans from Malappuram.
Rohan D’Cousta who hails from Mumbai was at the counter at Ambedkar Stadium to exchange original tickets with the online receipts when a few fans approached him asking for fresh tickets. “He tried to convince them that no new tickets were being issued but the fans were of the impression that the counter was selling fresh tickets for the match. He was taken into preventive custody for his own safety and released once the match started,” a police officer said.
