A preliminary PSL report has confirmed that 10510 tickets for the Nedbank Cup final were sold beyond the venue’s capacity, resulting in refunds for affected buyers during Monday’s ticketing turmoil.
Scores of fans were unable to purchase tickets when they went on sale Monday for the much-anticipated Soweto Derby Nedbank Cup final featuring Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Moses Mabhida’s approved capacity is 49,307 seats. According to the report, presented by Bertie Grobbelaar on an independent capacity, the breakdown of the tickets included 5,307 hospitality tickets, 3,000 complimentary tickets allotted to sponsors, clubs and other contractual obligations, and 41,000 general access tickets available for sale.
Grobbelaar said tickets for the match were sold out within 90 minutes, and the high demand caused delays, technical glitches, and a system crash.
WHAT THE PSL’S PRELIMINARY REPORT SHOWS
In a televised address to the media, Grobbelaar, who was brought in to assess the ticketing situation, stated,” The fact is that tickets went on sale, and the system allowed more people to make payments than its capacity could handle.”
Open Tickets, the appointed ticketing company, had a service level agreement with Computicket, which acted as a distribution agent. Grobbelaar added that 4956 tickets were sold via retail outlets, Shoprite and Checkers, nationwide.
On the Open Ticket website, 2,435 digital tickets were sold, while CompuTicket sold 44,121 tickets. He further said there were 19,361 tickets that still had to be allocated to unsuccessful purchasers.
“Over issuing of the tickets, 19,561 tickets had to be allocated to people who paid, but did not get the tickets. 10,510 people, or not people, but tickets were paid for, but were over capacity, and those people had to be refunded,” added Grobbelaar.
He emphasised that the number of tickets issued for Saturday’s game did not exceed the stadium’s capacity, allaying concerns about having more attendees than it could accommodate.
“That is the most important message. And that was why [Lt] General [Nhlanhla] Mkhwanazi personally was in the meeting yesterday to confirm that as well,” he concluded.
SAPS WILL BE VERY STRICT AT MOSES MABHIDA
Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal deputy provincial commissioner Major General Phumelele Makoba warned that police would be strict at the venue on Saturday.
“What I want to emphasise is that the issue of tickets has already been alluded to, and SAPS will be very strict on the ground,” Makoba said. “If you know that you don’t have tickets to watch the game, rather stay away or go somewhere else where you can watch the match instead of coming to the stadium to cause unnecessary conflict.”
She assured that they would do everything necessary to ensure everyone’s safety.
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