Gold Cup finals: Complaints over less tickets for Addu

The issue of less tickets being made available for Addu City than Eydhafushi in the Ninety Plus Gold Cup's final match against the two teams tonight has heated up in the country.

Ninety Plus, the organiser of the tournament, sold 700 tickets for Addu while 1800 tickets were sold for Eydhafushi.

Ninety Plus attributed the ticket shortage for Addu to limited space in the cemetery side of the stadium, designated for the away team. Meanwhile, the organizers designated Eydhafushi as the home team, despite neither team being based in Malé, and allocated the larger section of the stadium to Eydhafushi.

The space on the cemetery side is limited because the upper staircase is damaged and it is not safe for fans to climb.

However, the Addu supporters say the same number of tickets could still have been sold regardless.

"No problem, they cannot compromise security. Then why did they not allocate the same number of seats to both teams? We were allocated 700, so they should have been allocated 700 as well, then there would have been no issue," an official from the group said.

Addu City's mayor Ali Nizar has also expressed concern over the low ticket sales to Addu supporters.

"It is unfair to allocate the smaller area of the stadium to Addu supporters knowing Addu City's population is higher, that there'd be more supporters, and that more sales would get generated from sold tickets. (this) is an unacceptable differentiation," Nizar wrote on social media.

Although the final match's venue is neutral for both Addu and Eydhafushi, the home and away teams were allocated for administrative reasons. However, Addu supporters maintain that it is unfair to have made the allocation, especially when one side of the stadium has less space.

A special charter flight of Maldivian Airlines was arranged today for Addu supporters who wanted to watch the match. It is also reported that Addu supporters working in nearby resorts are also traveling to the capital to support for their home team.

For these reasons, Ninety Plus tried to make room from the stadium's main gate side. However, a team of MNDF inspected the area and decided that it was not safe.

Ninety Plus has now decided to set up more seats towards the Nirolhumagu side and give about 300 seats to Addu fans.