In Bangladesh Cricket world cup fever is on the rise, as a large number of cricket fans clashed with the police as they crowded the banks to buy tickets for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.The chaos started when the bank authorities announced that each branch would only sell 500 tickets due to stringent scrutiny of buyers’ identification papers.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has made 15,000 tickets available per match for the cricket crazy fans all over the country. The tickets went on sale at 80 branches of the private City Bank and the state-owned Agrani Bank on Sunday.
Out of masses only a few of cricket fans could get hold of the tickets for the event despite many on them lining up in queues since Saturday noon in the cold weather. There were chaotic situations all over the country as the police tried to beat up the crowd in order to disperse them.
The disappointed fans clashed with the police at Mirpur, Bangabandhu Avenue, Uttara, Dhanmondi, and capital of the country, Dhaka.
The fans included many aggrieved students who retorted to raise slogans against the BCB and International Cricket Council. They vandalised at least eight to ten vehicles in front of the Mirpur branch of the City Bank after which the police intervened.
There were no threatening injuries but a few fans and a photographer had reportedly suffered minor injuries during the protests.
Shah Alam, a police inspector, while talking to a local TV channel said, “They raised slogans and held demonstrations.” However, the inspector maintained that the police calmly dispersed the protesters.
Bangladesh is the co-host of the event along with India and Sri Lanka. The opening match will be held between India and Bangladesh on 19 February at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Bangladesh.
The fans were angered when officials announced that 15,167 tickets would be sold to the public even though the stadium has a seating capacity of over 25,000. The remaining tickets will be reserved for foreign officials and stakeholders.
There are fifty outlets of the City Bank and thirty branches of the Agrani Bank that will be selling around 100,000 tickets for 6 games to be held in Bangladesh.
However, cricket fans were wary of the fact that they might not be able to support their home team in the World Cup due to the limited number of tickets.
The BCB is yet to comment on the availability and mismanagement of the ticket sales.
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