Tickets for Singapore’s ASEAN Championship semi-final against Thailand sold out in under two hours on Wednesday (12 August), before appearing online at prices of up to S$500 each.
That asking price was for a Category 1 ticket which officially cost S$49 before fees, making the resale listing roughly 30 times the original price.
The first leg will kick off at 9pm on Saturday (15 August) at Jalan Besar Stadium.
Fans Joined the Queue Early but Still Missed Out
Tickets went on sale exclusively through TicketHotline at 11am on Wednesday. There were no physical or on-site sales.
Some supporters told CNA that they had entered the online queue before sales began, only to find that tickets were no longer available when they reached the booking page.
Less than two hours after sales opened, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced that all tickets had been snapped up.
Category 1 tickets cost S$49, while Category 2 tickets were priced at S$35. These prices excluded a S$1.20 ticketing fee per ticket and a 5 per cent transaction fee.
S$49 Tickets Listed for S$500 Each
Listings on Carousell were asking as much as S$500 for the tickets at the time of writing.
However, paying a heavily inflated price does not guarantee entry to the stadium.
FAS said tickets cannot be transferred or resold without the promoter’s written permission. Tickets resold in breach of this condition may be cancelled, and their holders may be refused entry.
Tickets bought through unofficial channels could also be invalid or counterfeit. Buyers risk losing their money if sellers fail to deliver the tickets.
In other words, even a S$500 resale ticket could still leave you outside the stadium.
Why Is the Match Being Played at Jalan Besar Stadium?
The shortage has also raised an obvious question: Why is such a highly anticipated match being staged at the roughly 6,000-seat Jalan Besar Stadium instead of the 55,000-seat National Stadium?
The National Stadium was used for the National Day Parade on 9 August, as well as rehearsals before the event.
The Kallang Group told CNA that the venue must now be reinstated. Its football pitch also has to be installed and given time to acclimatise before it can meet competition requirements.
The entire process takes approximately two and a half weeks from the end of the parade.
That means the National Stadium cannot be ready for either the semi-final on 15 August or the tournament final on 22 August.
Singapore will face Thailand in Bangkok for the second leg of the semi-final on 18 August.
