Police break up ticket riot

A fan is arrested after police resorted to baton-charging crowds © AFP

Ticket sales for the opening ODI of the five-match series between Pakistan and India at Karachi had to be suspended when fans broke through security cordons causing mayhem, and ending with police having to restore order.

The number of people trying to buy tickets caught the authorities by surprise, and the situation became more serious when frustrated fans started throwing stones at the police, who in turn retaliated by using batons to disperse the crowd. Several people were hurt, none seriously.

Onlookers blamed the Pakistan Cricket Board's handling of the sales, pointing out that it only opened three sales booths - with a total of eight windows - despite the massive demand which should have been forseen. The PCB has previously used a variety of outlets, including banks, to sell tickets but opted to restrict sales to the stadium box office on this occasion.

"We will resume the ticket sale from Monday and in an orderly manner by increasing the number of booths and will have outlets other than the National Stadium," Rameez Raja, the PCB's chief executive, told reporters. "We have only 20,000 tickets for sale after 20 percent have already been sold on the internet and in a city of 140 million people such minor incidents take place due to over-demand."