Thousands of ticketless fans during Pakistan-Afghanistan match try to force entry into stadium; ICC seeks probe

Dubai, October 30

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to thoroughly investigate the incident of attempts by ticketless crowds attempting to get into the stadium for the Pakistan-Afghanistan ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ match on Friday night.

Though more than 16,000 tickets were issued for the night game between Pakistan and Afghanistan, thousands of ticketless fans travelled to the venue and then attempted to force their entry into the stadium, the ICC said in a statement late on Friday.

“Dubai Police and security staff secured the stadium to ensure the safety of everyone inside and brought in significant additional resources to disperse the crowd and calm the situation.

“At approximately 7pm (8.30 pm IST), Dubai Police directed that all gates should remain closed and no further entry was permitted to maintain a safe and controlled environment inside the venue,” the ICC said in the statement.

“The ICC has asked the ECB to undertake a thorough investigation into tonight’s events to learn any lessons and will work closely with authorities to ensure there is no repeat of this situation in the future,” the statement said.

The ICC, BCCI and ECB also apologise to any fans with valid tickets who were unable to enter the stadium due to the disturbance and police directive to close the gates, and requested them to contact the ticket provider for further action.

IANS