Excitement among England fans is increasing in Qatar before their World Cup quarter-final with France – and so are the ticket prices on the black market, with seats being offered at three times their face value here.
England fans were given 7,000 official tickets but about 12-15,000 supporters are expected at Al Bayt stadium on Saturday night, with expats from the Gulf region flying in to swell the numbers.
On Friday afternoon England fans without tickets were being offered category one seats for £850 and category two for £575 – broadly three times more than the cost price.
Despite the increased number of England fans in Qatar there has not been a single arrest, with police attributing that to a lack of alcohol and drugs.
“Clearly the difficulty in accessing alcohol and cocaine has had a calming effect on some of our supporters,” Ch Supt Steve Graham, the most senior British officer out in Doha, put it this week. “But they also deserve praise for the carnival atmosphere, with fans from different countries happily mixing and enjoying the World Cup.”
Meanwhile Qatari security forces will have enhanced measures in place for Morocco’s quarter-final against Portugal after the disturbances outside the ground before the game against Spain. Sources close to the organisers said they expected Morocco fans without tickets to try to get into the 44,000-seat Al Thumama Stadium for the country’s biggest game in its history.
Morocco have more fans here than any other country and yet more have arrived since they dramatically won their last-16 shootout against Spain. As a result police will have a number of soft ticket checks outside the ground as well as a large security presence. It comes after multiple skirmishes between riot police and Morocco supporters amid chaotic scenes outside Al Rayyan’s Education City Stadium on Tuesday.
Security forces, who also deployed mounted officers and dogs, dragged away at least three people in the most serious trouble of the World Cup. One policeman fell off his horse in the disturbances.
Organisers blamed the trouble on hundreds of ticketless fans, who they said had tried to force their way into the ground. However others who were caught in the melee insisted they had legitimate tickets – and feared they could have been seriously hurt.
There were also issues with some Morocco fans before their match against Canada, with some trying to climb a fence, although most have behaved impeccably.
