Source:REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
[Saba Sports News] Previously, the African nations welcomed the grand event of the Africa Cup; however, this occasion has raised significant doubts, particularly among fans, who expressed strong dissatisfaction with the organizer’s operational capabilities. The operation of the Africa Cup in Morocco has drawn concentrated scrutiny from fans, teams, and media, with core controversies revolving around ticket management, security arrangements, viewing atmosphere, and emergency response, exposing systemic shortcomings in the design of rules, execution, and coordinated planning for large-scale events.
In terms of ticketing, although the official implementation of a real-name ticketing system aimed to combat scalping, the lack of a pre-planned, reasonable ticket transfer channel led to a situation where tickets hoarded by scalpers could not circulate, resulting in a bizarre phenomenon where events were sold out but the stands remained empty. The black market ticket prices soared far beyond the affordability of local residents, making it difficult for many fans to attend the matches.
Furthermore, the committee’s subsequent remedial measure of allowing ticketless spectators to enter for free after the start of the matches, while attempting to improve attendance, further disrupted the ticketing order, damaging the professionalism of the event and the rights of related parties, leading to a dual failure of rules and execution.