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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Richard Garnett

Tranmere Rovers fan queued for FOUR HOURS to watch England v Iran World Cup match sat on steps

Tranmere Rovers (Organization) England World Cup Iran Fifa Echo Everton Liverpool

A Tranmere Rovers supporter had to queue for over four hours without water or toilet facilities before England's 6-2 World Cup win against Iran, after FIFA's ticketing app crashed before the game.

Lewis Glasson and Welsh friend Sion Kenyon paid around £1,500 for flights and the Group B opener tickets for a once-in-a-lifetime two-week trip to Qatar where they will take in eight matches.

But their adventure descended into chaos when their England v Iran match days tickets failed to activate in the online app, denying hundreds of England fans what should have been straightforward entry to the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. The problem had been identified by the pair prior to arrival at the stadium, but despite their best efforts, a resolution could not be found ahead of kick-off.

Lewis told the ECHO: "We went to the DECC (Doha Exhibition & Convention Centre) downtown and it was chaos for an hour. Nothing happened. Couldn’t get into the building so went to the stadium. Outside the stadium perimeter, they were sending us to every kiosk, massive queues, no one knew anything and we got nowhere.

"Then they announced over the tannoy to go through security using our Hayya cards. We did that then went to our gate and they required a ticket. We were sent to the Ticket Resolution Point which had another massive queue. We waited there for half an hour until bang on kick-off, when they said you can get through the gate with the confirmation email.

"At this point we rushed through the nearest gate by stewards using our email confirmation and Hayya card. Nothing was scanned. It took us four hours in total from midday."

A Hayya card is a personalised fan ID number that has been issued to anyone attending the World Cup in Qatar. Lewis and Sion eventually got into the stadium 20 minutes into the match, but their stress was far from over even at this stage.

Lewis said: "We ended up in the wrong section of the stadium and weren't allowed to move between blocks or leave and re-enter via the correct gate, so instead we were just stood on the stairs. Hundreds were in the same position. The worst thing is the tickets were category 2 halfway line seats that cost us £100+ and we ended up sitting on a step and missing the first 20 minutes."

Fortunately for Super White Army fan Lewis, England's first goal in the 6-2 rout didn't arrive until the 35th minute. Despite the chaos trying to get into the stadium, he also offered balance by insisting that he hadn't felt in danger at any point, but also highlighted how challenging the conditions had been for others.

He said: "We felt safe at all times to be fair and no panic, just a lot of frustration with the lack of common sense being applied. If the staff were better informed and someone had made the decision earlier to allow fans encountering problems into the stadium on production of the confirmation email everyone would have got in and the experience would have been a lot more pleasant. Ultimately we both felt exhausted and didn’t really get to enjoy the build up or the match properly.

"And of course, queuing endlessly in the sun and heat with no water or toilet facilities wasn’t appropriate. I did see one woman passed out who required medical attention."

The pair will be hoping for better organisation this evening when they attend more games at the tournament. But at the time of speaking to the ECHO the ticketing app was still non-operational, hinting at the possibility of further issues ahead.

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