In consequence of the unfortunate crowd protest that took place in Dambulla during the 04th ODI, Sri Lanka Cricket together with the Sri Lanka Police applied stringent security measures to safeguard the cricket fans that had purchased tickets for the matches.
In a communiqué issued today Sri Lanka Cricket explained the following :
“We continuously announced through the media that there will be no tickets sold on the day of the match and fans were thus requested to purchase their tickets prior to the day of the match in a bid to prevent recurrence.
We would like to stress the fact that SLC is obliged to secure the seats for the ticket holders who have purchased tickets prior to the match and it considers as the legitimate right of the ticket holder.
SLC found that selling tickets on the day of the match was a tedious operation as tickets were bought by various people and re-sold to the genuine cricket fans at a black market price which creates to an untoward situation beyond our control. SLC received several complaints to this effect and as a precautionary measure to safe guard the interest of the genuine cricket fan who purchased tickets in advance, we decided not to sell tickets on the day of the match.
SLC, made a request to the police to prevent anybody coming into the ground without having a valid ticket and we appreciate the gesture on the police who had done a commendable job at our request.
Public who did not purchase their respective tickets prior to the match behaved in an unruly manner causing a situation outside the main gate. As a result, even the people who purchased the tickets could not come in to the premises of the ground due to the heavy traffic congestion caused by the unruly crowd who were blocking the main road as a mark of protest.
Sri Lanka Police made several requests to the protestors to move out of the road to enable the genuine ticket holders to enter the ground. More than 2000 spectators who had purchased tickets complained that they could not get into the grounds within the first two hours of the play.
Sri Lanka Cricket together with the Sri Lanka Police took a decision to grant free access to the public who did not obtain tickets and granted access to the open grass embankment in an orderly manner, whilst protecting the rights of legitimate ticket holders. Approximately 1000 people were able to enter the grounds due to the above action, and the congestion on the main Colombo-Dambulla road was cleared for vehicular movement as usual.
Sri Lanka Cricket would like to state that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and would like to denounce the violent behaviour of the protestors who pelted stones at the police and damaged property of the stadium. As a result, Sri Lanka Police had no choice but to use minimal force to curb the situation.
Sri Lanka Cricket has clearly advertised the selling points of tickets and has sold their tickets prior to the match at 18 outlets island wide including Dambulla, Matale and Anuradhapura and 90% of the tickets were reported sold through the above network and only 10% via internet.
Sri Lanka Cricket would like to reiterate its appreciation and recognize the continuous trust placed by the genuine cricket fans and for supporting the game in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Cricket also wishes to inform the general public that about 2,000 tickets of Rs. 100/- for the 5th ODI will be sold tomorrow (03rd September 2016) at Kandy District Cricket Association office situated at Asgiriya Cricket Stadium from 10 am onwards. Only 1 ticket per person will be sold on first come first basis.”
