The 2016 World Cup T20 has had its fair of controversies on the field, but unfortunately, has been dogged by some off-field controversies as well. Some fans have been lining up outside the Wankhede stadium from as early as 3 am on Thursday morning to get tickets for the India-West Indies semi-final, but administrative decisions have ensured that most of them return home empty-handed.
What is even more surprising, Team India has also been hit by the acute shortage of tickets. Such is the situation that if every squad member wants to bring somebody, not all of them can be accommodated in the VVIP box that is usually proffered to them.
The India squad has only been offered 20 hospitality tickets, apart from the usual quota of 125 passes. However, there are 28 members in the Indian contingent, including the players, team director, manager, three coaches, trainer, physio, masseur, media manager, logistics and security officer and others.
If all the 28 squad members decide to bring somebody along, some of them will have to sit in the stands, away from the comforts of the VVIP box.
The players are understood to be not too happy with the ticket crisis, but the ones who will be even more hurt are the throngs of people who have been arriving in Mumbai over the last 48 hours in hopes of being a part of history as India progress through the stages of the World T20.
People thronging the counters on Wednesday were told that tickets were only being issued for those who had booked their tickets online, but there was no such sign outside the stadium.
Where are the IND vs WI tickets going?
The question that came up from this acute crisis of tickets was regarding who the tickets were reaching if there were so many people who were having to miss out on one. This question has thrown up some startling facts.
The capacity of the Wankhede is 33,000 seats, out of which only 4,000 have been made accessible to common people. The remaining tickets have all been issued to cricket clubs in the city or politicians.
It has been revealed by Firstpost that Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Swadhin Kshatriya, was given 250 free passes by Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). The Chief Secretary denied this at first, but when proof was showed to him in the form of MCA's letter to him, he conceded that the tickets had been sent, but that they had been for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
MCA authorities clarified that there was nothing illegal in this transaction, as sports department and clubs are supposed to be sent tickets anyway. The MCA is understood to have a deal with the state government to give 250 free tickets for every international match.
When the Wankhede had been built, the MCA did not have enough money to maintain it, and so depended on donations from the state government and the five Gymkhana clubs in Mumbai — Hindu, Islamic, Parsee, Catholic and Bombay Gymkhana. This system of patronage, though it would seem to be extinct, continues to exist even today, denying the common man of a chance to watch his heroes in action.
A breakdown of the seating arrangement for the semi-final:
Total Seats in Wankhede – 33,000
Other Boxes – 10,000
350 clubs in Mumbai – 7,500
Garware Club House – 6,000
5 Gymkhanas – 4,200
Tata – 450
Chief Secretary – 250
Common Man – 4,600
While some people who are ready to give an arm away for a ticket have to walk away from stadiums empty-handed, tickets are being issued in bulk to certain organisations. This is questionable in itself, but the more immediate impact that this is having is that it is fostering black market sale of tickets, with going rates rising up to ten times the regulated price.
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