Rs. 100 tickets were sold at Rs. 1000
Shillong, Aug 23: In anticipation of the highly anticipated Durand Cup semi-final match between Shillong Lajong FC and North East United FC scheduled on Monday, tickets will be made available for purchase in the districts in Khasi-Jaintia Hills region to ease the worries of supporters traveling from various parts of the State to Shillong.
The announcement regarding the district-wide ticket sales was made by the Minister in charge of Sports and Youth Affairs, Shakliar Warjri, on Friday. Tickets will be available for purchase starting Saturday, he said.
The Minister added that the decision aims to ease access for fans and ensure widespread availability of tickets.
The match, initially scheduled to be held in Kolkata, has been relocated to Shillong’s JN Stadium due to security concerns in Kolkata due to the wide-spread protests after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor earlier this month.
However, for the fans and supporters of Shillong Lajong, this news has been joyous.
Reportedly, fan parks will also be created at various locations in Shillong and other parts of the State where huge screens will be put up for fans to watch the match live.
Meanwhile, the selling to tickets in other districts also comes after reports of ticket scalping for the quarter-final match, in which tickets originally priced at Rs. 100 were resold for over Rs. 1,000 due to high demand. This left many fans outraged, who have asked authorities to take action against the illegal resale of tickets.
Fans complained that they had come to Shillong to buy tickets for the quarter final match but couldn’t get them. That is when, a scalper approached them, offering to sell the tickets at 10 times the original rate. Left with no choice, many bought the tickets at exorbitant prices to witness the quarterfinal match, which Shillong Lajong won.
Meanwhile, the semi-final between Shillong Lajong and North East United is expected to be one of the biggest derby matches ever played in Shillong, as the Durand Cup is one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments in the nation.
The last match saw an attendance of 14,988, with tickets selling out five hours before the event.
