The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) cricket competition has been experiencing issues with ticket touts, according to reports.
The majority of the Twenty20 series has been played behind closed doors due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) allowed some fans to watch the play-offs and the final inside the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
To ensure the safety of fans, the BCB did not put the tickets on general sale and instead sold them to the franchises involved.
According to a report from The Business Standard, multiple touts were seen operating outside the stadium, attempting to sell to ticketless fans wanting to see the action.
Touts were trying to sell the tickets for between BDT 1,000 (£8.55/$12/€10) and BDT 1,500, despite tickets not being on general sale.
The BCB had initially said that 4,000 spectators would be allowed to watch the BPL matches, however this was increased to 10,000 for the final between Comilla Victorians and Fortune Barishal.
Of the 10,000 tickets available, some were given as complimentary to stakeholders, while a large share of the tickets were purchased by the two franchises playing.
According to another report from the Dhaka Tribune, ticket touts could be spotted outside the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, selling tickets at inflated prices.
The Dhaka Tribune reported that BCB media committee chairman, Tanvir Ahmed Titu, informed a portal that the BCB was aware of the situation surrounding tickets being sold on the black market, but that the board had “no control of it as tickets were not being sold by the board”.
Image: Nurunnaby Chowdhury/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
