PCB clamp down on ticketing arrangements

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken measures to ensure that no persons without valid tickets will be allowed inside the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium tomorrow for the second ODI between Pakistan and India. The board's statement comes after reports that the first ODI at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar was seen by many people without a valid ticket for the ground.

Shaharyar Khan, the board chairman, said in a press conference: "Measures have been taken to ensure that the paying public is given its right and due share in viewing the match. I am conscious of the fact that in Peshawar this wasn't fully achieved and we are going to make sure that there will be no element that comes into the ground without a ticket. Simply you have to have a ticket to get in."

There were reports, confirmed by Khan, that as many as 32,000 people made their way into the ground on Sunday. The stadium's capacity is 16,000. On the morning of the match, many fans were left outside the ground and not let in, while others with valid tickets entered only to find their seats occupied by people without tickets. A large number of fans even attempted, soon after the match started, to enter the press box and occupy seats in there.

Khan added that all tickets for the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, which holds 19,000 have already been sold. He added: "The public should not come to the ground if they don't have a ticket so there won't be any unnecessary crowding. This will not be allowed to happen. Once you have the ticket we are ensuring that you get to the seat that is yours. It should never happen that someone has bought a ticket for a certain amount and when they get to that seat it is occupied by someone else. This happened in Peshawar. I have been assured by the administration that this will not happen again. No-one will be allowed in the outer ring of the stadium and if you don't have a ticket please don't come."

Despite the fact that the crowd at Peshawar was mostly good-natured, Khan once again called on fans to be on their best behaviour during the match. "I would like to call on the people of Islamabad and Pindi to show discipline and also show that they are a welcoming public who can appreciate good cricket. This has happened in the series up to now and the only problem was in Peshawar where instead of having 16,000 people we somehow had 32,000 people. The extra 16,000 were occupying seats that legitimately belonged to those who had paid for them."