Hong Kong fans slam complicated procedures to get tickets for World Cup soccer qualifier against China
Supporters frustrated at arrangements to secure seats for eagerly awaited clash in Shenzhen on September 3
Local fans have slammed complicated purchase procedures as ticket sales began on Tuesday afternoon for the long-anticipated clash between China and Hong Kong in the World Cup soccer qualifiers.
Hong Kong supporters can only buy tickets online for the September 3 match to be held at the 40,000-seat Baoan Stadium in west Shenzhen. Just 2,000 tickets have been allocated to the away fans.
I am still trying as we need to go through a lot of procedures. You need a mainland telephone number for registration, which no one told us before
Many Hong Kong fans were caught off guard as they were still working on the registration process requested by the agent.
Purchases then resumed at about 4pm, but many fans were still struggling with the registration process, which involved providing a name, address, a mainland phone number and the number to a valid entry permit.
A source close to the agent said it had to fix some technical problems and that was why purchases were halted for an hour, adding that fans could get tickets if they followed all the steps.
"There are some procedures to go through and this is required because each ticket is to be sold to a specific person and is non-transferable," said the source.
