CHAN 2024: CAF Limits Ticket Sales Ahead of Quarter-Finals Amid Site Crash
- CAF has limited ticket sales in Uganda in a bid to reduce instances of rogue vendors selling duplicate tickets
- Kenyans have been rushing to purchase tickets for the match, but have been forced to wait after the ticket provider's site crashed
- Benni McCarthy's side face Madagascar in the quarter-finals, while Uganda will battle defending champions Senegal
CAF, Africa's football governing body, has imposed restrictions on online ticket sales in Uganda in a bid to avoid fraud.
Source: Twitter
Tickets have become highly sought after in Kenya, fueled by Harambee Stars' outstanding performance in CHAN 2024 and their journey to the quarter-finals.
What is wrong with CHAN ticketing?
In Kenya, Mookh Africa, the CHAN ticket service provider, crashed due to overwhelming traffic, sparking strong criticism from fans.
Mookh released a statement hours later explaining the system failure, promising to resolve the issue ahead of Kenya's highly anticipated clash against Madagascar on Friday, August 23.
"When sales opened at 12pm, our system was overwhelmed by automated bots, preventing genuine fans from securing tickets as intended. Our team is actively working to stop this so that tickets go to fans — not bots," their statement read.
Fans will now have to wait for a virtual queue to limit the number of users on the website. When the sale opened on Tuesday, they were getting 4,000 requests per minute.
It is unclear whether the capacity will be at 100% for the Kenya vs. Madagascar match. CAF reduced the capacity to 60% following serious security breaches during Kenya's clash against Morocco.
Source: Twitter
Have CAF limited ticket sales?
According to Dennis Mugimba, spokesperson for Uganda's Ministry of Education and Sports, CAF has limited the number of online tickets one person can purchase to a maximum of three.
"Due to the problem of fake tickets, CAF has restricted the purchase to a maximum of three tickets per person to curb duplication," he said via Daily Monitor.
It is unclear whether this applies to all hosts, particularly in Kenya, where reports have emerged of fans purchasing duplicate tickets from individuals who bought in bulk and resold them.
Fans allege that rogue vendors are operating around Kasarani, selling fake tickets. During the match against Morocco on August 10, fans breached security and forced their way into the stadium, resulting in a KSh 6.4 million fine from CAF.
Uganda will play Senegal in the quarter-final on Saturday, August 23.
Will CAF allow 100% capacity at Kasarani?
Following the chaotic scenes during the Morocco match, CAF implemented strong measures to prevent a repeat, including reducing the stadium's capacity.
Kenya's Ministry of Sports have formally asked CAF to review the stadium capacity from 60% to full capacity.
Since it's a quarter-final, CAF is likely to allow full capacity but will require the government and FKF to implement strict security measures to prevent breaches.
Are Kenyans buying tickets for Tanzania game?
In a related story, TUKO.co.ke reported that Kenyans threatened to buy tickets for Tanzania vs Morocco.
Reports emerged online that Kenyans had started purchasing tickets for Tanzania's quarter-final clash against Morocco, set for Friday.
Kenyans and Tanzanians have an ongoing feud, and their teams could meet in the CHAN 2024 final.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
