The ICC World Cup has begun but the stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad are empty. Despite the crunch in the World Cup ticket sales, the opening game of the World Cup between England vs New Zealand saw the biggest cricket stadium in the country, barely filled. The finalists of 2019 are taking the stage but the ICC is finding it hard to fill the seats.
The biggest cricketing extravaganza is back but much to the dismay of the ICC and the BCCI, the seats at Ahmedabad which boasts of having a seating capacity of 1.3 lakhs are barely filled.
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It is a sorry state of affairs for both the ICC and BCCI. Amidst all the confusion regarding the ticket sales, the stadium remains empty, and even all the tickets are not sold. On the day of the match, official ticket partner BookMyShow was spotted selling the tickets for the game.
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Earlier, in a bid to fill the stadium the BJP had invited 30000-40000 Women from Ahmedabad to visit the stadium and fill the seats.
Roughly 30,000 to 40,000 women from Ahmedabad will be in the stadium today to watch the game. “Tickets were distributed to them today, and our volunteers have been asked to send the names. Tickets were obtained from above (we acquired them from the top). See, even the 33% women’s reservation Bill has been passed,” Wadhwan told Indian Express. He added that these women will travel to the stadium on their own and will also receive coupons for tea and food.
Yamal Vyas, a spokesman for the Gujarat BJP, responded, when asked if the party had made a special effort to mobilize women for the inaugural match: “We have not made any attempt at the party level for anything like that. It’s okay if they (women) travel in big numbers. However, the party is not taking any extra steps in that direction.”
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