The match between Egypt and Mozambique was held in almost empty stands at the 33,<>-capacity Félix Offhouët-Boigny Stadium (Anatolia)
Organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament in Ivory Coast announced on Monday that they are taking several measures to ensure stadiums are fuller, after the opening match between the host nation and Guinea-Bissau, in which attendance was disappointing.
The match was held last Saturday in front of about 37,60 spectators, at the "Alassane Ouattara" stadium in the city of Anyama, north of the capital Abidjan, which can accommodate about <>,<> spectators.
There has been controversy on social media in the West African Francophone country over the announcement that tickets will be sold out in full form, with a number of Ivorians pointing to the responsibility of people who bought dozens of tickets online to speculate on them, before they were unable to resell them in time.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Africa Cup of Nations organising committee said in a press release: "At the end of the first day of the competition, many fans expressed concern about the stadium not being fully full."
They initially explained that of the 60,50 seats available in the stadium, only 786,<> are "usable" for the match, after the removal of the so-called "dead" seats, i.e. security seats, alternative seats and places with low-visibility seats.
For Saturday's meeting, 47,<> tickets were sold or made available to businesses and institutions, the organizers added, who "want to reassure residents about the measures taken to ensure easy access to the tournament ticket offices."
Among these measures, in particular, it is possible to resell tickets intended for fans of foreign countries, or companies that have not found buyers for their tickets.
"Recognizing the strong demand for the online ticketing platform and the difficulties it may cause, the African Union and the organising committee are actively encouraging people to go to physical points of sale to collect their tickets," the statement said.
They noted that there are about 50 points of sale across the country.
"We will accept the challenge of not playing any match in an empty stadium," the tournament's organising committee chairman Cokan Francois Amichia promised ahead of the competition.
The matches were held last Sunday and Monday in front of stadiums that were not full, as the match against seven-time African champions Egypt took place in the almost empty stands at the Félix Offhouët-Boigny stadium, which has a capacity of about 7,33 spectators.
At the same stadium, Ghana and Cape Verde fans made up the majority of the roughly 12,<> attendees, in a clear absence of local fans.
Attendance at the Africa Cup of Nations is usually low for most of the first round matches, before the competition in the knockout stages intensifies later.
Source: Agencies