Utalk Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Ahmedabad: ICC chief Haroon Lorgat defended the decision to stage the World Cup final in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, saying it would provide the perfect setting for the city's favourite son Sachin Tendulkar to script a "fairytale" ending. Choosing the arena for the finale raised a few eyebrows amid growing frustration for shortage of tickets as the 33,442-seater stadium has the second lowest capacity out of the eight Indian venues hosting matches during the six-week tournament. While Kolkata's revamped Eden Gardens could hold almost 60,000 fans, Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla and Ahmedabad's Sardar Patel grounds have around 50,000 seats but all of them were overlooked for the April 2 final. "You know you have got choices to make," International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Lorgat told reporters on Wednesday. "Can you imagine a (more) fairytale ending with Sachin Tendulkar getting a hundred in the final and India winning at the Wankhede which is his home ground? "And no matter what the number (of seats), we do not have sufficient tickets." Fans, seeking tickets, have regularly clashed with baton-wielding police in the subcontinent bringing the tournament on the verge of being a public-relations disaster. The violence forced the organisers to shelve plans of selling some tickets for the final through box offices. Lorgat said the organisers simply did not have the means to satisfy the ticketing demands of a cricket-loving country that boasts a billion plus population. "Attendances have been phenomenal. We expect that from the quarter-final stages every single seat in the house will be sold," Lorgat said. "It's an unfortunate reality that it's a finite sum of tickets and there is huge demand for it." Demand of tickets for matches featuring the three co-hosts, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, have far exceeded supply. Last month the official online ticket website crashed due to 10 million people chasing just 1,000 tickets for the final. There have also been reports in the local media about allegations of black marketing of tickets while people waited in in long queues. About 200 people shouted slogans and displayed placards against the local organisers outside the Sardar Patel Stadium -- which will host the India v Australia quarter-final on Thursday -- alleging mismanagement of tickets and black marketing. "We simply don't tolerate black marketing of tickets and where we have found those instances we have certainly taken action," the top ICC executive said. "In certain instances there have been arrests. We do alert police and other officials to ensure that does not happen." The tournament has been a learning point for the ICC and the governing body will look at ways to handle the ticketing issues better in the future, the chief executive said. "There is always a better way of doing certain things and there are few lessons that we can learn from it," Lorgat said. "But the fact is that the demand has been absolutely phenomenal and no matter how well we tried we could not fit in the demand into the supply that we have got."
Utalk Posted March 23, 2011 Author Posted March 23, 2011 http://cricketnext.in.com/news/wankhede-chosen-for-a-sachin-special-lorgat/55739-5.html Should the ICC chief be saying these things.To me its disrespectful to the other teams. What is your point of view on this?
Zelig Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Coming from the ICC Chief? :omg: Zelig don't approve :headshake:
girishk14 Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Wow hes talking as though he knows Indias gonna make it to the final and win
Zelig Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 http://cricketnext.in.com/news/wankhede-chosen-for-a-sachin-special-lorgat/55739-5.html Should the ICC chief be saying these things.To me its disrespectful to the other teams. What is your point of view on this? I'm with you bro :friends:
MUMBAISKIPPER Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 how come he knows beforehand that sachin will hang his boots after 2011 WC??....Buffoon Haroon!
Rajiv Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Typically, an official saying something liek this might come as bias but at the same time, Sachin has been there for so long and being from Mumbai, it's one of thiose things which is in everyone's mind. Don't take it too hard, and what' on my mind ' Well, I wish Pak play in Mumbai, maybe the city can be spared another Bomb Blast. I don't mean this is as an insult but ground reality
Utalk Posted March 23, 2011 Author Posted March 23, 2011 Sachin of 96 was on another planet and would have won it if he was not let down by his team mates.But ICC chief should never say this in public.Something like this does not help ICC.
Utalk Posted March 23, 2011 Author Posted March 23, 2011 Typically, an official saying something liek this might come as bias but at the same time, Sachin has been there for so long and being from Mumbai, it's one of thiose things which is in everyone's mind. Don't take it too hard, and what' on my mind ' Well, I wish Pak play in Mumbai, maybe the city can be spared another Bomb Blast. I don't mean this is as an insult but ground reality Lahore was not in pakistan was it?
Cricket Tragic Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Where was this interview/press conference? If it was in India, I'm not really surprised to hear this since he would have been told/asked about this a million times.
SachDan Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Sachin of 96 was on another planet and would have won it if he was not let down by his team mates.But ICC chief should never say this in public.Something like this does not help ICC. Lorgat is the CEO of "the company" and Sachin is its brand ambassador. Got the connect? :--D
The Outsider Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Sachin of 96 was on another planet and would have won it if he was not let down by his team mates.But ICC chief should never say this in public.Something like this does not help ICC. Fact is there is very little logical justification to hold the final of the World Cup in one of the smallest stadiums in India. He can't admit that Bombay was awarded the final because of Pawar's politics, so will have to come up with some flimsy excuse or the other. This just happens to be one of them. You can make out this is the case from the following statement : "And no matter what the number (of seats), we do not have sufficient tickets." What kind of a defensive and rubbish argument is that? What's stopping them from hosting in some 500 people stadium then?
akshayxyz Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Irresponsible, but I guess he is also one of those fans who could not control his emotions. Such is the aura of SRT.
akshayxyz Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 What kind of a defensive and rubbish argument is that? What's stopping them from hosting in some 500 people stadium then? Actually that would have made more sense, at least no one will have expectations and fans would not have got lathi-charged.
Utalk Posted March 23, 2011 Author Posted March 23, 2011 Whats that got to do with lahore? Saying there wont be a blast if Pakistan plays in Mumbai is an insult to all those losing their lives in Lahore during Pak v SL test.
SachDan Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Fact is there is very little logical justification to hold the final of the World Cup in one of the smallest stadiums in India. He can't admit that Bombay was awarded the final because of Pawar's politics, so will have to come up with some flimsy excuse or the other. This just happens to be one of them. You can make out this is the case from the following statement : If and when England hosts another world cup, will they award the final to any stadium other than Lords? Don't bring in Eden Gardens..brought shame to the nation in '96 and failed to host an important match in this WC!
Rajiv Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Fact is there is very little logical justification to hold the final of the World Cup in one of the smallest stadiums in India. He can't admit that Bombay was awarded the final because of Pawar's politics, so will have to come up with some flimsy excuse or the other. This just happens to be one of them. You can make out this is the case from the following statement : What kind of a defensive and rubbish argument is that? What's stopping them from hosting in some 500 people stadium then? Whats next in Line, Kolakata - which already held one, plus a final is more suitable for a metro IMO
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