HCA not related to selling tickets, Paytm is ticketing partner: Azharuddin

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Cricket Association president Mohammed Azharuddin, among those who understand the immense attraction of an international cricket match, shrugged off responsibility for the stampede at the Gymkhana ground here on Thursday, which left many persons injured.

He said Paytm was the ticketing partner to sell tickets online and offline. "HCA is not related to the ticket selling issue and the incident that took place at Gymkhana Ground,” he claimed.

He agreed that there were complimentary tickets had been given out for the T20 cricket match between India and Australia to be held on September 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal.

Azharuddin said that the HCA would “take care” of victims who suffered injuries in the stampede that took place at Gymkhana grounds on Thursday. “It is unfortunate that a heavy crowd thronged the counter,” he said.

He said that on September 15, Paytm sold 11,450 tickets, and 4,000 tickets were given to corporate; at least 2,000 tickets were sold online, 3,000 tickets were sold offline, and internal stakeholders were given 6,000 tickets. The stadium seats about 36,000 people.

"There was no controversy in selling tickets and some elements deliberately created confusion among the cricket fans and people on the issue,” he claimed. “We are impartial in terms of selling tickets and HCA has nothing to do with it as we have given the task to sell tickets to Paytm," Azharuddin said.

Azharuddin warned that the HCA along with the police would take stringent action against miscreants for selling tickets in the black market. The supervisory committee of the Supreme Court was overseeing affairs and the HCA was answerable for everything, he said. "We are doing it in a fair manner without any issue," the HCA president claimed.

HCA secretary Vijayanand said that they had made all arrangements for the match. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no proper maintenance of the stadium and the staff are on duty to make it fit to host an international match.