KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17— Malaysian fans have been advised not to sell their tickets to Indonesian supporters when both teams clash in the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Tuesday.
The advice came from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the police to ensure smooth flow of supporters of both teams to the stadium and no security issues on game day.
FAM Secretary-General Stuart Ramalingam claimed that 5,000 Thai supporters had watched the qualifying match between Malaysia and Thailand at the same venue last Thursday, although FAM had only allocated 2,500 tickets for supporters of the visiting team.
“It stems from the attitude of a few Malaysian supporters who helped the visitors buy tickets using the quota of home supporters, in the process making it difficult for security forces to place supporters in their designated spot.
“To avoid the situation repeating itself in the match between Malaysia and Indonesia, FAM and the police have again advised Malaysians not to be the cause of this problem. Be responsible and do not sell your tickets to the visitors,” Stuart said in posting on FAM’s Facebook page today.
He believed the same problem would not recur if all parties cooperated and played their part.
Stuart said FAM had allocated a total of 4,500 tickets for the supporters of the visiting team as requested by the All-Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) for Tuesday’s game, adding that the sale of the tickets would be handled by PSSI itself.
He explained that Harimau Malaya squad fans can still buy tickets online at www.tickethotline.com.my, but only for open seats as tickets for the Grandstand and Premium seats were sold out.
Malaysia are currently in fourth place in Group G with six points, while Indonesia have failed to earn any points after four games.
For the record, Malaysia beat Indonesia 3-2 in the Group G opener at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Sept 5. — Bernama
