Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan on Tuesday (November 2) urged fans not to forcefully enter the stadium to watch their matches in the ongoing T20 World Cup, saying they need to “respect rules and support the organisers.”
His statement came on the eve of Afghanistan’s highly-anticipated clash against India at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
During Afghanistan’s match against Pakistan last week in Dubai, Afghanistan fans attempted an entry inside the stadium without tickets and it meant that many fans who had bought tickets were prevented from entering.
"I'm super excited about tomorrow's AFGvIND game. I was disappointed at the scenes last weekend; we need to fly our national flag high and do our country proud. Pls respect rules & support the organisers @ICC@T20WorldCup@AbuDhabiCricket, only coming to the stadium with a ticket," Rashid wrote on Twitter.
After the Afghanistan-Pakistan game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had apologized to ticket holders who could not enter the stadium despite having tickets for the match.
"More than 16,000 tickets had been issued for tonight's game between Pakistan and Afghanistan," ICC had said in a statement.
"However, thousands of ticketless fans traveled to the venue and then attempted to force entry into the stadium. Dubai Police and security staff secured the stadium to ensure the safety of everyone inside and brought in significant additional resources to disperse the crowd and calm the situation," the apex body added.
ICC had also asked Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to go through an investigation on the incident and take notes from it to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"The ICC, BCCI (hosts Board of Control for Cricket in India) and ECB (Emirates Cricket Board) apologize to any fans with valid tickets who were unable to enter the stadium."
"The ICC has asked the ECB to undertake a thorough investigation into tonight's events to learn any lessons and will work closely with authorities to ensure there is no repeat of this situation in the future," the statement said.
