AFCON 2024: Faced with low attendance in stadiums, CAF and Cocan promise measures
While the stadiums of the first matches of this AFCON 2024 are, for some matches, sparse, the public is wondering. Have the tickets actually been sold, as the organizers assured last week? On Monday evening, CAF and the AFCON Organising Committee issued a statement in response to the controversy.
A spectator sits alone in a part of the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké during the Algeria-Angola match on January 15, 2024. AFP - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD
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With 38,000 spectators announced on Saturday for the opening match between Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea Bissau and 8,500 for the Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea match on Sunday at the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe, the gauges displayed this weekend are below the objectives expected by the Organising Committee of the CAN (Cocan).
Read alsoThe 2024 AFCON match schedule
A situation that disturbs the public, and in particular people who say they have not been able to buy tickets. On social media, many Ivorians are denouncing the responsibility of people who bought dozens of tickets online to speculate, but who failed to resell them in time. Some tickets are sometimes offered at prices ten times higher than the initial prices.
« Defections from local authorities and businesses »
Originally, "all the tickets were sold for the opening game," says a Cocan official. But, the source continued, "there have been defections from local authorities and companies that have ordered group purchases." "These tickets were therefore put back on sale at the last minute," which explains the empty seats in the stadium, the source said, without specifying the volume of the tickets put back on sale.
In Bouaké on Monday (January 15th), videos shared on social media showed the city's mayor Amadou Koné handing out free tickets in an attempt to fill the 40,000-seat Peace Stadium for the Algeria-Angola match. Dozens of people queued up to try to get the precious sesame for free. In the end, 19,000 people attended the meeting, according to official figures.
If the stands of the other matches are also often sparse, it is also because "there is a craze for the national team and the host country, but the other matches do not attract crowds," said another source at Cocan. "With the political crises, Ivorians have been shunning stadiums for about 15 years, it takes time to come back," said one expert.
« Results within 48 hours »
Faced with the growing controversy over the issue of banknotes in Côte d'Ivoire, Prime Minister Beugré Mambé had to step up to the plate. "We are taking matters into our own hands and you will see the results within 48 hours," he said, adding that ticketing was "a matter for the Confederation of African Football (CAF)".
#Sport | AFCON 2023/ Problems related to ticketing: the Prime Minister announces solutions within 48 hours
Yamoussoukro, January 15, 2024 - The Prime Minister, Robert Mambé Beugré has reassured that solutions will be found to the problems related to the acquisition of tickets... pic.twitter.com/PwY7mrccI9
— Government of Côte d'Ivoire (@Gouvci) January 15, 2024
In a note sent to the press, CAF and Cocan announced that they wanted to "reassure the population on the measures taken to guarantee easier access to the competition's ticketing". In particular, they ensure that tickets reserved for foreign fans or companies that have not found a buyer will be put back on sale. CAF and Cocan also say they are "aware" of the "high demand" and difficulties encountered by fans wishing to buy their tickets online. They therefore encourage the public to buy their tickets at one of the 51 points of sale set up throughout Côte d'Ivoire. Ticket prices for group matches range from 3,000 to 10,000 FCFA (between €4 and €15).
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- AFCON 2024
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