In a stunning disclosure, the Local Organising Committee of the World Cup 2011 said on Sunday they will put only two-thirds of the total tickets of each venue on sale and the rest will be taken by the International Cricket Council.
‘We will sell some 15,000 tickets for the matches to be held in Dhaka and some 11,000 tickets for the matches to be held in Chittagong. The ICC will take away the remaining tickets for their different stake holders,’ GS Hasan, an LOC member responsible for World Cup ticketing, told reporters.
He added that they will sell only 12,000 tickets for the opening ceremony, less than half the capacity of the Bangabandhu National Stadium which officially stands at 25,000.
Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium has seating capacity of 25,509 means if the LOC puts only 15,000 tickets on sale, the ICC will have around 10,000 tickets which is one-third of the stadium’s total capacity.
Similarly, the Chittagong divisional stadium, which will host two World Cup matches, has the capacity of 17,800 meaning the ICC will keep around 7,000 tickets in their possessions.
Asked why the ICC needs so many tickets, Tamim said they will distribute those among the sponsors and other stakeholders.
Replying to a query, Ali Ahsan Babu, the host tournament director, admitted the ICC will take away a significant portion of the tickets, but he could not provide any details.
Cricket Logistics, an ICC appointed company, will also take tickets to sell in the participating countries, said Babu.
Babu said apart from the ICC, they will not provide any tickets to any local stakeholders.
‘It’s true we have to give a significant number of tickets to the ICC. The rest of the tickets will go to bank for selling to the local spectators,’ he said.
‘Requests for complimentary tickets are flooding in at our office, but we said no to everyone,’ he added.
New Age sought a clarification from the ICC and in response Sami Ul Hasan, ICC communications manager, said they have nothing to add after Babu’s comments.
The tickets will be sold through eight branches of The City Bank in Dhaka, five branches of the same bank in Chittagong. Apart from that, tickets will be available at least at one branch of a bank in every district.
The BCB officials said they are expecting to earn Tk 20 crore from the World Cup gate money.
Of the 37 hospitality boxes at the SBNS, 10 will go to the ICC and the BCB said they have received over 400 applications for the rest. The rates for hospitality box tickets are Tk 21 lakh, Tk 18 lakh and Tk 17 lakh respectively.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, is expected to inaugurate the ticket sales on December 31 by buying a ticket for herself as she could not give any time on January 1.
