The huge crowd who had thronged to the Sylhet Zila Stadium for the second and final friendly football match between the Bangladesh Under-23 team and the Nepal U-23 side has probably broken all the previous records in recent times.
More than 50,000 supporters were present inside the stadium which has a capacity of not more than 25,000. A little over 25,000 fans watched the game from the main ground, gathering inches away from the touchline, previously unheard of in the history of Bangladesh football.
The overload of the spectators forced the match officials to delay the game for an hour which was originally scheduled to get underway at 5pm.
It was learned that the number of tickets sold for the game was more than the capacity of the stadium with around 40,000 tickets sold for the final friendly of the SS Steel International Friendly Series between the two sides. The ones who had arrived early to the venue managed to get inside the galleries but the supporters who were unable to make it to the venue gathered outside the stadium.
Just before kick-off when the national anthems of the two sides were played out, the fans broke out and unlocked the main gate of the stadium and, like a troop of ants, they invaded the main ground. The officials had no other option but to stop the game. Some of them even tried to enter the press box and were successful.
Most of the supporters who entered the main ground unlawfully had the tickets of the game and some of them were carrying VIP tickets.
The game, however, kicked off an hour later with the supporters hovering just outside the touchline of every corner of the pitch. The security of the players was at risk and concerns surrounding the game was obviously there but against all odds the game rolled on.
Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag explained why they started the game. “The match commissioners instructed the referee to start the game when he was certain that the crowd could be controlled beyond the chain of security forces.”
One of the main concerns of the organisers before the game was how to control the game as it was inevitable that the crowd would surpass the capacity of the seats after 90 percent of the tickets were sold out a day before the game. The organisers must admit their failure in not being able to control the situation and they struggled a lot at times while controlling the fans during the game.
Security forces and the number of volunteers were also not upto the mark in controlling the crowd. Only 400 policemen were present when the game started but it was not enough and the amount of law-enforcement authorities were increased after the situation worsened. Shohag informed that around 150 policemen were added to the original roster.
Sylhet District Football Association president Mohiuddin Selim said, “We sold 25,000 tickets according to the capacity of the stadium. But many general fans thought that they could get the tickets before the game and gathered around the venue as the game was about to begin.”
