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Ricky Zililo, Opinion
IF last Sunday’s chaos at Barbourfields Stadium turnstiles where Highlanders Football Club played host to FC Platinum is anything to go by, then more commotion should be expected at every Bosso’s home match.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving at the gates as fans who came with less than 30 minutes to kick-off tried to squeeze their way into the stadium for the epic match.
Bulawayo soccer giants Highlanders went on to win the encounter 2-1, breaking a nine-year winless jinx against the champions in a match watched by a paying crowd of 11 046.
Some of the fans missed Highlanders’ two goals, scored by Stanley Ngala in the 27th minute and the 34th minute header by Peter Muduhwa as they were still by the gates.
With Highlanders seemingly playing well and drawing lots of fans, it is highly likely that chaos at the gates will continue.
Next weekend, Highlanders take on table toppers Dynamos in the country’s biggest match at Barbourfields Stadium, and this got me thinking that maybe it’s time that the Premier Soccer League expedited the process of electronic ticketing system.
In February, the PSL invited tenders for the provision of an electronic ticketing system for the 2023 season. The PSL has been seized with the e-ticketing matter and with the league already underway, maybe they need to rush the process and go digital.
Since 2014, the PSL has been trying to have the system in place and there was even a trial run in 2019 where tickets for some games were sold online.
At that time, the PSL had a plan to gradually introduce the ticketing system. The next two years saw no football owing to Covid-19.
The introduction of pre-sold tickets will grant fans access to tickets way before the match from selected outlets such as leading supermarkets and other relevant outlets.
Pre-sale of tickets will improve passage of fans into stadiums to watch football as it would be easier to access the facility through designated entry points.
Presently, with a lot of pushing and shoving when people jostle for tickets at entry points with others ending up losing valuables to thieves, the pre-sale will reduce congestion, save time and will improve transparency as it will give out the actual number of fans that would have paid to watch the match.
There was an outcry from certain sections that the number of fans who watched the Highlanders-FC Platinum game was more than 11 000.
As much as the PSL tries to plug loopholes at the gates, the only way to address this is through pre-sale of tickets.
Clubs, through their governors can push for the PSL to speed up the e-ticketing process instead of crying foul that they are not responsible for what happens at the gates.
Yes, according to Order 23 of the PSL rules and regulations, the league is obligated to ensure adequate officials manning the gates and ensuring that all admission fees are properly collected and accounted for, clubs can engage their fans and ask them to come early for the games.
With football meant to be a family event, the shoving and delays at the gates discourages women and young children to attend high profile games.
If not properly addressed, disaster might strike soon resulting in stampedes as agitated fans try to make their way into the stadium.
The fans also have a responsibility to play in addressing congestion at the gates, maybe coming early could be key. There’s a tendency of people getting to the stadium late, having been killing time at braai centres or imbibing in their favourite drinks.
Now that the league has given the green light for the sale of alcohol inside the stadium, maybe “rush hour” fans will start coming early.
Stadium owners also need to play ball, invest in back up power to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to keep the network required to scan tickets.
Also, the e-ticketing system will work well if there are bucket seats, meaning that a person buying a ticket will know before the game his or her seat number. However, lack of bucket seats shouldn’t stop the sale of pre-tickets as still the number of spectators can be limited by issuing the exact capacity tickets.
Through the e-ticketing, it will also be easy to cordon off areas leading into the stadium, with only ticket holders allowed to pass the security check points.
So, as the league games continue and fans’ interest shoots up, the PSL should strongly consider moving from the archaic stadium sale of tickets. – @ZililoR.
Online Reporter