Ticket-holders denied entry to Asian Cup final

DOHA, Qatar (AP): Thousands of ticket-holders at the Asian Cup were denied entry into the final Saturday after police shut the gates minutes before the match began between Australia and Japan.

Witnesses said irate fans — some holding their tickets in the air and shouting — were forced to watch the match on a television behind a a fence that encircled the 40,000-seat Khalifa Stadium.

Some fans complained that baton-wielding police roughly pushed the crowd and ordered them to leave because the stadium was sold out, although there were empty seats inside. Fights reportedly broke out as fans tried to push their way through the gates.

"We came from another country to watch our team but no one is talking to us," said Hedo Nawashimi, a 42-year-old Japanese national who had flown over from Dubai and had tickets. "This is very bad. It is not right to keep us outside. Is that the way to organize Asian Cup? Is that a way to organize a final match?"

There were conflicting reports that the gates were opened later in the match. But dozens of ticket holders interviewed in the 70th minute of the match were still standing outside a security fence. Police were refusing them entry on what they said were orders from their superiors.

When a reporter approached, the crowd of European, South Asian and Gulf Arab fans all held up their tickets, including one woman who had eight. They talked of crowds that reached 5,000 all barred from entering and then spending the next several hours going from gate to gate in an unsuccessful bid to gain entry. At one point, several hundred had tried to enter via the tournament's media center but were turned back.

"My father's inside and I can't get to him," said A.J. Smith, a 15-year English fan living in Doha. "There are empty seats everywhere. You can just look at the television for proof. It's not fair."

Sameh Abu Assi, a 33-year-old Saudi national standing nearby, said he had driven 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) from Saudi Arabia to attend the match and spent more than $2,000 on hotels and tickets.

"We should be allowed to enter," Abu Assi said. "How do they expect to organize the 2022 World Cup? They can't even organize this."

Ali al-Hamdani, a spokesman for the Asian Football Confederation, said the AFC and the local organizing committee would investigate the matter.

Many saw Qatar's organizing of Asia's premier football tournament as a dry run for the 2022 World Cup, which it won the hosting rights for in December.

The tournament had gone without incident until the ticket mix-up which is likely to raise questions about the government's security plans for large events and its crowd control measures.

"I came here for a vacation," said Abdullah al-Qahtani a translator for the U.S. Army in Saudi Arabia, who ripped up his tickets in front of confused police officers. "I'm really sad. It's really a shame. I will leave now."