Dhoni sympathy for baton-charged fans
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday sympathized with the fans who
were baton-charged by police as they queued for tickets to see India's
World Cup clash with South Africa.
"Police take the action when they feel it is needed," India skipper
Dhoni told reporters in New Delhi where India take on the Netherlands in
a Group B clash on Wednesday.
"To avoid a stampede-like situation, they have to resort to
lathicharge (baton-charge). So to always project the police as bad is
not an ideal thing. But of course everybody feels bad when fans get
beaten up."
Ticket-hungry fans, desperate to see Saturday's match in Nagpur, were
baton-charged by police as they queued, witnesses said.
The clashes happened outside the Vidarbha Cricket Association
offices, as police struggled to control the crowds.
Fans started queuing on Monday, a day before the counters opened for
the sale of tickets for the first World Cup game involving India in the
Orange City since 1987.
Engineering student Ajay Zade had given up hope of buying one of the
16,000 tickets for the high-profile match, to be held at the VCA's
Jamtha Stadium.
"I have been waiting since early morning but I have no hope of
getting the tickets," said Zade, 20.
"I was close to the counter but had to leave the queue because of the
baton-charge in the morning. I was very keen to see the India match but
now I have no hopes."
Mohammad Safwan, a 20-year-old student, was more fortunate, securing
his ticket on Tuesday despite the crush which prompted the police
intervention.
"It feels like I have won the World Cup," he said.
"I have been standing in the queue since last night and I slept on
the footpath. There was a baton-charge in the morning, but my slogan was
'bear the baton-charge for tickets'.
"I want to see Sachin Tendulkar's batting and Yusuf Pathan's sixes."
It was the second time at the World Cup that fans have been
baton-charged.
Similar incidents took place in the run-up to the February 27 clash
between India and England in Bangalore when fans queued overnight in the
hope of securing one of the 7,000 tickets placed on general sale.
Ticket sales and their allocation have caused a major rift between
local organisers and the International Cricket Council. The game's
rulers claim the system had pushed their relationship with their
commercial backers to breaking point.
The choice of Mumbai for the April 2 final has also been
controversial as the Wankhede Stadium only has a 33,000 capacity with
20,000 tickets going to clubs linked to the Mumbai Cricket Association
and 8,500 to the ICC.
The remaining tickets, around 4,000, will be sold to the general
public.
Reserved tickets not taken up by sponsors or guests for the
semi-finals and the final were to be sold by a public ballot online.
NAGPUR, AFP
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